Chuck VS The World
by willynilly23
Summary: This is a new adventure for Chuck & Sarah. It is an AU S3 with no Shaw and no Hannah and lots of cool locations and lots of romance!
1. Chapter 1

NOTES: This is a brand-new adventure for Chuck and Sarah. This is an AU for Season 3. There is no Shaw & no Hannah. This is a unique adventure that assumes all of Season 1 & 2 as cannon and breaks off from there. The adventure that Chuck & Sarah go on involves the destinations and challenges from Season 23 of The Amazing Race. I changed the names of the teams as it seemed wrong to write fic about actual human beings, so all the original characters are based on an amalgamation of various TAR teams over the years. I wrote a fic like this for Covert Affairs and it was the most fun I ever had writing a fic for that universe. There will be adventure and romance and lots of cool locations, I hope you enjoy!

***555***

Sarah dropped her bag inside the door of her familiar green hotel room and took the few steps needed to fall face first on her bed. She and Casey had been in Russia for 2 weeks investigating a lead on The Ring, but every clue was a massive roadblock, and now she was home in L.A. with nothing to show for their latest efforts. The trip was exhausting and frustrating, like much of the past 3 months had been.

Three months, it had been 3 months since their lives all changed. It was 3 months ago that Ellie and Devon got married, that Sarah had danced in Chuck's arms certain they were on their way to a different life. She hadn't even had time to contemplate what that new life was going to be before all hell broke loose and Chuck had downloaded the new Intersect, after they fought so hard to get the original one out of his head. His beautiful, brilliant head.

Sarah remembered those moments, when Casey went to call Beckman and Sarah knew they only had a few minutes alone.

***555***

"Chuck, we need to run," Sarah whispered harshly.

"What?" Chuck was confused and he looked like he was in pain.

"This, whatever this is," Sarah indicated the unconscious men around them, "There is no way Beckman will let this go. You will be sucked back in to the CIA, forever now and after you just got the Intersect out of your head. We can go, I have IDs and money for both of us…."

"You do?" Chuck seemed shocked by that as he kept looking over at Bryce's body.

"Of course, I was never going to let them throw you in a bunker, Chuck," Sarah said timidly as she stroked his arm, felt the muscles tense and shudder from the intimacy of her touch or the exertion they had just endured.

"That's amazing, Sarah," Chuck said his eyes warm and soft.

"We can have that real life."

"On the run?"

"We'll settle somewhere," Sarah realized time was running out.

"I, I want you so much Sarah, you know that," he held her hand, delicately, the pad of his middle finger stroking over the pulse point on her wrist as it had the night of Ellie's rehearsal dinner, was that just last night?

"I do and I want it too. I know I didn't have a chance to tell you earlier, but I wasn't going to go with Bryce," she smiled when Chuck's eyes went wide, "I was going to find a way to stay here, with you," she knew she was practically begging him with her eyes.

"I want you so much, Sarah," he said again but she saw the resignation in his eyes.

"Chuck," a tiny sob escaped.

"I have to know what this is, what my father created and why. Sarah, I can't explain what just happened, can you?" she shook her head, "We don't know what the consequences of this might be, for the government, for me."

She knew he was right, but dammit they had just gotten rid of the Intersect. She wasn't mad at Chuck, it wasn't his fault, he did what he thought was right, but Sarah was so frustrated with yet another roadblock.

"They will make you a spy, a real spy," she cautioned.

"If I was a real spy we could be together though, right? I wouldn't be the asset any more, I wouldn't just be Chuck."

Sarah just frowned as she heard Casey's boots outside the door.

"Castle, now," Casey grunted and Chuck moved his hand from holding hers to the small of her back as he led her out of the room.

He wouldn't be just Chuck anymore and that was what scared Sarah more than anything.

As expected, as soon as Beckman saw the results of the Intersect 2.0, Chuck was whisked off to an undisclosed location for analysis and training. Sarah and Casey were tasked with interrogating the Ring operatives that had ambushed them and killed Bryce and now 3 months later Sarah had not seen or heard from Chuck since that day. Beckman was silent on his whereabouts and progress.

A cover story was crafted for Ellie and Devon, that Chuck was in Houston helping open a new Buy More. Ellie was so blissfully happy after her honeymoon she was easily convinced. Sarah kept up her cover at the Orange Orange when she was in town and kept in touch with Ellie and Morgan to keep Chuck's cover, but truth was she had no idea where he was or how he was. And he wasn't just on her mind when she ran into Morgan or Ellie, Chuck Bartowski was pretty much always on her mind. She had yet to forget the intensity of the passion she felt in that small lumpy hotel bed in Barstow. The feeling of Chuck's big warm hands on her, his lips crashing in to hers, the complete abandon they both showed.

Sarah had kissed Chuck before that, but there was something that morning, the look in his eyes that turned her on so much, that made her want to run away with him and never look back. Then Ellie's wedding, the second one, was so romantic and perfect and Sarah once again considered throwing away her career and taking Chuck to Mexico and not letting him out of bed for several days.

Just as she began to drift off to much needed sleep her phone buzzed. Casey's angry face was covered by a text that simply said: Castle. Now.

"Seriously?" Sarah sighed and crawled off the bed.

***555***

Despite her fatigue, Sarah perked up as she descended the stairs in Castle because Beckman was there, in the flesh not on the screen, and Casey had a large duffel at his feet.

"Hello, Agent Walker."

"General," Sarah nodded.

"I know you have just come back and I know you feel your efforts have been in vain lately, but I am happy to report that we have a very solid lead on The Ring and your new mission starts today," the General headed to the conference table and brought up some screens behind her.

"First though, I thought you would want to say good-bye to Colonel Casey, he will be heading back to the Middle East to meet up with his unit finally."

"I'm going on the mission alone?" Sarah queried.

"No," Casey smiled and reached a hand out to shake Sarah's, "Good luck, Sarah."

"Thanks, Casey. Be safe," Sarah pulled him close and hugged him despite his groan.

"I'll be back," he gave her a little squeeze before saluting Beckman and heading out of Castle.

"Have a seat, Sarah," Beckman indicated the table and sat down herself.

Sarah sat quietly and waited for Beckman to talk.

"Sarah, I am not unaware of the hard work that you and Casey have put in these past few months. One of the sources you apprehended in Ecuador has given us a lead that we think is worth investigating. Unlike Fulcrum who recruited entirely from within the intelligence community, The Ring seems to be recruiting civilians. One of their recruiting strategies is a travel company called World Challenge, ever heard of them?"

"Sure, it's like the Amazing Race without the TV exposure."

"Exactly, pairs of people travel the world competing in challenges and the winner gets a big prize. The people that sign up for this kind of experience are exactly what the Ring is looking for: strong, well-traveled with language and problem solving skills. It is an 8-week mission, if you succeed. If you are eliminated, we will put a different pair of agents on the next cycle. If you make it to the final 4, per our source, you will be approached by a Ring recruiter. The source said the recruiter might be the group leader or may even be one of the other competitors. I expect you will have an idea of who the recruiter is early on, but continue to play the game."

"Sounds pretty straightforward. Who's my partner if Casey is heading to the Middle East?"

"We considered sending you and Colonel Casey as brother and sister, but we think it would be better to send you with a romantic partner, that will allow you more private time together to strategize."

Sarah nodded her agreement to the strategy.

"Hi Sarah," his voice was the same, but when Sarah turned to the source of it the man standing there was not the same Chuck.

"Chuck," she said his name like a sigh.

"Agent Bartowski has completed his training, but not without a few setbacks," Beckman rolled her eyes when Chuck grinned.

"Are you OK?" Sarah asked as Chuck approached.

"I'm fine," he assured her as he sat at the table.

Sarah couldn't put her finger on what exactly was different about Chuck, his hair was cut differently, it was still longish but more styled, less animal shapes. His body, under the jeans and long sleeve shirt he was wearing looked more solid, less lanky and his face looked more guarded and less goofy. Aesthetically it was a potent combination, but Sarah's heart clenched, he looked like a spy.

"Agent Bartowski has been cleared for this mission despite not completing his red test," Beckman looked Sarah in the eye.

Sarah just nodded, she didn't need to say anything, but secretly she was pleased with the news. Chuck was not a killer and he didn't need to be to be a good spy.

"Your cover is boyfriend/girlfriend, I assume that won't be a problem?" Beckman nearly grinned.

"Not a problem, Ma'am," Chuck smiled and Sarah saw that goofiness return for a second.

"No, General, not a problem," Sarah concurred.

"I have to caution you both not to show your hand. There will be times when you want to utilize your skills during the race and while we want you to win and play to your strengths you do not want to stand out. So, Chuck, no flashes unless absolutely necessary and Sarah keep your languages under control, most people can't speak 22 languages."

"You speak 22 languages?" Chuck gaped.

"Conversationally," Sarah shrugged.

"If you need a language to keep you in the race, use it, but otherwise play the dumb American," Beckman explained.

"Understood."

"Sarah, send an email to Ellie, explain your aunt needs you in Texas to help her recover from emergency surgery. Let her know the good news is you will be close to Chuck. This will help maintain Chuck's cover as well. You will have access to your phones on the trip, send her a picture every now and then to keep her happy, Grimes too if you need to," Beckman grimaced at the mention of Chuck's buddy.

"We've packed for you. You meet the group at a movie set in 30 minutes, use the Lima protocol if you need help. Good luck," Beckman stood and Sarah and Chuck followed suit.

Suddenly the General was gone and Chuck and Sarah were alone for the first time in 3 months.

"Hi," Chuck said unnecessarily and awkwardly.

"Hi," Sarah smiled warmly at him and he relaxed.

"How are you?" they both said at once and Sarah laughed.

"I missed you," Chuck reached out and then retracted his hand before he touched her and Sarah frowned.

Chuck picked up on her dissatisfaction and reached out again, cupped her elbow in his large hand and tugged gently, she willingly slipped into his embrace.

"I missed you too," she said sincerely as she breathed in the scent of him.

"You look good. I saw Casey earlier, I'm glad you're both OK."

"We're fine, but the team wasn't as much fun without you."

"No stakeout mixes."

"No stakeout mixes," Sarah nodded in agreement.

"I hate being this close to Ellie and not being able to see her. Is she OK? I was able to email occasionally."

"She's great, I see her pretty often, we miss you together. How was your training?" Sarah stepped out of his arms and missed being in them almost instantly.

"Hard," he laughed, "I still have things to learn, but this mission came up and Beckman thought I was ready. If I'm not supposed to flash I am unsure how much help I can be on this mission though."

"Don't be silly, regular people do this kind of thing all the time and I know for a fact that even without the Intersect you are far from regular, Chuck Bartowski," Sarah smiled and Chuck's heart jolted, she was flirting with him.

"Where do you think we'll go?" Chuck asked as Sarah walked towards their bags.

"I don't know, I'm excited to find out though," and Sarah realized she was.

Sarah Walker had been to the far reaches of the globe, but the idea of traveling with Chuck made all those trips pale in comparison.

"Are we OK?" Chuck touched her shoulder and she startled.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked quietly.

"We were, I mean, things had kind of changed between us before all this started. I know that you made a very big decision about us before this," Chuck pointed to his head.

"What did you do to your hair?" Sarah asked suddenly.

"I meant the Intersect, but wait, what? Don't you like my hair?"

"I didn't say that, it's just different," she tentatively reached out and touched his hair and he pulled her close again, held her tight.

"So, us?"

"Is there an us?" Sarah asked honestly.

"I want there to be an us, Sarah. I've always wanted that, that has not changed. I have been working hard to get back here, to the team of course, but mostly to you."

"And here you are."

"Here I am."

"And we have a mission," Sarah smiled, this was familiar, a mission with Chuck.

"And a boyfriend/girlfriend cover again," he bounced his eyebrows at her.

"You were a little eager about that with Beckman," she giggled.

"I am eager, to work with you again, to catch up on your life, to see the world with you Sarah. I know this is work and important work at that, but I have a feeling this mission is going to be good for us."

"We'll be together 24/7 for 8 weeks, I have a feeling it will make or break us," she said honestly and when Chuck frowned she added, "For what it's worth, I hope it makes us."

***555***

Chuck read the mission briefing to Sarah as she drove them to the meeting site.

"All plane tickets are pre-purchased and there will be various flights giving teams strategic advantages based on timing. Cash will be provided for all trains, cabs, ferries and busses needed and there may be vehicles provided for driving which may be standard transmission. Think you can handle a stick shift, Agent Walker?" Chuck grinned as she sped up and shifted the agency car into 5th gear.

"Sounds like quite an adventure we are going on."

"There will be challenges only one of us can complete, we will need to decide which of us does the challenge and we cannot change our minds after we know the details, those are called Roadblocks. Then there are joint challenges that we will do together, we will have to choose one of two, but we can switch to the other if we want, that is a Detour. There will also be clues to lead us to other clues, like a scavenger hunt I guess," Chuck flipped through the papers.

"I wonder who chooses this as their vacation," Sarah mused.

"I can totally see you doing this for fun," Chuck laughed.

"I like to think I am unique though," Sarah sniffed.

"You are that," Chuck agreed with respect.

"What else?" Sarah nodded toward the file.

"Accommodations will vary from hotel rooms to outdoor camping to overnight train or ferry cabins, all prepaid. One room per team, bed preferences cannot be guaranteed. Our bed preference is," Chuck shuffled through the papers, "one."

"One?"

"I guess our cover means we are willing to share a bed," Chuck shrugged.

Sarah just nodded, she'd shared beds with partners she liked much less than Chuck. For his part, Chuck was not about to push the issue, he would sleep on the floor if Sarah wanted, he had offered that once before and she refused.

"Cell phones are allowed, but international coverage is the responsibility of the participant. Breakfast and dinner each day as a group, lunch on your own if time allows between challenges. Some challenges may involve food, if you have registered any food allergies that will be taken in to account. You don't have any food allergies, right?"

"No, although I don't love the idea of food challenges. I am picturing that hot dog eating contest they do on the 4th of July," Sarah shuddered.

"I am a champ at eating weird things, have you met my best friend?" Chuck grinned.

Sarah just snorted.

"I guess that is it. I assume the agency packed us everything we need; those bags are heavy."

"What about our cover, beyond the boyfriend/girlfriend thing, who are this Chuck and Sarah?"

Chuck shuffled through the paper work and found photocopies of their real passports, well his real passport and Sarah's Sarah Walker passport.

"Us, I guess. Our names, our addresses in California."

"OK, so I say we stick as close to the truth as possible. You work at the Buy More, I work at the Orange Orange. You have a sister and brother-in-law, I moved to LA a couple years ago, we've been dating since then."

"Easy to remember if for no other reason than it is basically the truth. One thing though, a Buy More employee and an Orange Orange employee could not afford this trip, it is close to $5,000 each."

"Your dad gave it to us as a gift," Sarah offered.

"Like the Intersect, that kind of gift," Chuck frowned.

"He wants us to think about settling down, but knows we wanted to see the world first," Sarah spun a very believable tale.

"OK," Chuck nodded as he tried not to think about actually settling down with Sarah someday.

"Well, we are here," Sarah hit the turn signal as she turned in to the lot.

A woman in a World Challenge tee shirt approached the car with a clip board.

"Hi, you guys are either Chuck and Sarah or Kevin and Lucy, my only two male/female teams left to check in," she smiled as she consulted her list and leaned in towards Sarah's open window.

"Chuck and Sarah," Chuck offered a hand in greeting, reaching across the front seat of the car.

"Jen Thomas, Event Coordinator," she smiled and shook Chuck's hand as Sarah waved.

"Hi, Jen," Sarah said nicely.

"All your paper work is in order. You can park in that lot over there. We are awaiting a couple more teams and then we'll get started, so grab a shady spot and make yourselves comfortable, there is water in a cooler under the saloon awning."

"Great," Chuck nodded.

Sarah moved in to the parking lot, parked the car and popped the trunk. Chuck hopped out and shouldered his bag and gently placed an arm around Sarah's shoulder, slipping back in to his cover easily.

Sarah looked around, there was a pair of blonde women about her age both on their phones, two pairs of young guys chatting with each other already and a slightly older couple facetiming with what sounded like a herd of children. Chuck was walking toward a pair of guys with crazy long beards, but Sarah diverted them towards a couple who were sitting on some fencing on this Western movie set they were gathering at.

"Hey," Sarah shielded her eyes against the sun.

"Hi there," the guy answered as he hopped down and stuck a hand out.

"I'm Sarah, this is my boyfriend, Chuck," Sarah noticed the woman relax a little when Sarah introduced Chuck as her boyfriend and not her brother or gay best friend.

Sarah had used her body as an asset throughout her career, but in this setting her body could have been a detriment, she was certain to make more female confidantes if they didn't think she might want to steal their men.

"I'm Nancy, this is my fiancé, Adam," she said with a thick Boston accent.

"Not from around here," Chuck grinned.

"New Hampshire," Adam said as they all exchanged handshakes.

"So, you've already had a bit of a journey just getting here," Sarah smiled.

"Yeah, you guys from around here?"

"We are, ready for an adventure though," Chuck looked at Sarah with a wide smile, a real Chuck smile.

"I've heard this is a bit of an adventure too, some nights we might not even have hotel rooms," Nancy sounded slightly nervous.

"I'll protect you from the horrors of camping," Adam teased and Sarah thought she liked them, she imagined going out for drinks with them, like a double date.

"Jesus Christ, Kevin, lay off…." A shrill voice carried across the dusty lot and a woman with pink streaked hair threw something at the guy trailing behind her.

"They might not be ready for an adventure," Sarah grinned.

"Want some water, babe?" Chuck asked.

Sarah noticed a pair of guys over by the cooler and nodded.

"Thanks," she smiled back.

Chuck sauntered over, his long legs moving easy in his jeans, the sleeves of his long-sleeved tee shirt pushed up to his elbows, his watch glinting against the overhead sun. Sarah watched him the whole way over.

"You guys seem fairly normal," Nancy said with surprise.

"Huh?" Sarah was shaken from her admiration of Chuck's body.

"I hear some of the people that do this are pretty intense."

"It doesn't seem to be for the faint of heart," Sarah laughed.

"True, but we're just normal people, I hope we survive," Nancy looked slightly intimidated.

"I can't imagine it is in the company's best interest for any of us to die," Sarah reassured her.

Chuck, meanwhile, approached the cooler where two big guys were guzzling down some water.

"Hey there," Chuck greeted as he cracked the cooler open and took out two cold wet bottles.

"Hey," the men raised their water in salute.

"I'm Chuck, that pretty blonde over there is my girlfriend Sarah."

"Alan, this pretty fellow here is my buddy Zeke."

"Nice to meet you," Chuck wiped his wet hand on his jeans and then offered it to both men.

"You too. You ready for this?" Alan asked seriously.

"I think so. Sarah is a really good partner, she'll get me through," Chuck said honestly.

"She's a damn lot easier on the eyes than my partner, just imagine sharing a little tent with this oaf," Zeke laughed.

"Sounds cozy, but I'll stick with Sarah," Chuck looked back towards the blonde in question and smiled when she waved to him.

"OK, folks, time to gather up," Jen the Event Coordinator called through a megaphone.

Chuck migrated back to Sarah's side and handed her a bottle of water. When everyone was situated in a close semi-circle Jen abandoned the megaphone and just spoke loudly.

"We are a few minutes from departure. There are cars parked over there for you to use, your own cars if you drove here, will be valeted for you until you return – whenever in the challenge that may be. Instructions for this first trip are in the car, no hints on where you are going except it is south of here," Jen winked.

"While enroute there will be staff travelling too, they are only here for emergencies, they will not give you any assistance that is not life-saving, so don't try to get on their good side, they won't help you," Jen continued to smile.

"Any questions?" the Event Coordinator's question was met with silence.

"Everyone excited?" this time a smattering of cheers and woo-hoos emerged.

"I hope you are more excited than that," Jen rolled her eyes and people perked up a little more.

"OK, the time has come. I know there is a prize on the line here guys, but remember this really is about the journey, it is about seeing the world and experiencing different cultures. It is about facing tough challenges and staring down fears. Pick a car, read your first clue and good luck," Jen waved and all the participants raced off in a cloud of dust for the cute little compact cars parked neatly in a row.

Sarah picked the black one closest to the exit and with no discussion slid behind the wheel. Chuck had picked up some defensive driving lessons the past few months, but no one drove like Sarah Walker and she knew the fastest route to LAX of anyone he had ever met.

Chuck hopped in to the passenger seat and ripped open the envelope.

"Where are we going first?" Sarah asked, excited.

"Chile," Chuck looked up with a grin.

"You ready for this?" Sarah asked as she was already pulling out of the movie lot.

"I am," Chuck nodded, his eyes not on the road ahead but looking right at the woman driving.

TBC…


	2. Iquique P1

Notes: Thanks so much for the kind reviews and encouragement. I am excited about this story. Some of you asked about timelines for release. My goal is to have a new chapter out every 5 days or so. Each location that they visit will have 1-3 chapters depending on how fascinating I find it 😊 I hope you all enjoy the first location!

Iquique Part 1

Chuck explained that their destination was Iquique, Chile and there were 3 flights with room for only 4 teams per flight, obviously the teams on the best flight had the best chance.

"Check the on-time status of each of the flights and the weather in the lay over cities," Sarah instructed as she cut down a back way to LAX.

"On it," Chuck said as his nimble fingers flew over the keyboard of his phone.

"Each flight has 2 layovers but weather looks good in all layover cities, all the same airline. I say we try to get on the obvious one, the earliest to depart LAX gets to Iquique 2 hours before the next one."

"OK, I should get us there ahead of the other teams," Sarah promised and Chuck nodded.

"So, do you know anything about Iquique?" Chuck asked as he scrolled his phone, his lips pursed.

"It is a port city, northern part of Chile, dessert climate maybe," Sarah ran through her South American knowledge.

"Yes, yes and yes. Also, known for severe earthquake activity, OK didn't need to know that Wikipedia," Chuck frowned.

"Says the man who grew up in Southern California," Sarah snarked.

"Fair point. The pictures are beautiful, gorgeous water, nice beaches, historic Spanish looking places," before Chuck could read any more they started seeing signs for LAX.

"You have to park in the long-term lot," Chuck read from the instruction sheet and Sarah followed the appropriate signs.

As expected they were the first team to the LATAM counter and got seats on that first flight. Sarah flirted a little with the Latin man behind the ticketing counter and got them an aisle and middle seat near the front of the plane. With their boarding passes in hand they proceeded through security and directly to a restaurant.

"I haven't eaten in like 10 hours," Chuck explained as he nearly dragged Sarah to the ubiquitous airport sports bar.

"We have time," Sarah looked at her watch and realized they had 2 hours before boarding their flight.

Chuck smiled in relief as he grabbed them a table and quickly ordered. As he continued to read about Chile Sarah scanned the gate area and saw the 2 blonde women from earlier and the 4 guys that had been talking, looked like they were the first 4 teams at the moment. Sarah would have preferred one of the couples they had talked to earlier, but this was going to be a chance to meet some new folks.

"So hungry," Chuck murmured as the waitress dropped off their food and their check.

Sarah grinned at him and immediately paid the bill with cash before eating her turkey sandwich.

Chuck demolished his cheeseburger in six bites.

"We have a nine-hour flight ahead of us, a stomach ache will not make for fun flying," she cautioned.

"I have a stomach of steel, I'll be fine," he promised with a wink.

Sarah just shook her head at him and daintily finished her turkey sandwich.

***555***

"You guys are with us, right?" one of the guys, who introduced himself as Doug, asked.

"We are. I'm Sarah and this is my boyfriend, Chuck," Sarah said to the 6 other participants gathered in the gate area.

Sarah noticed the two blonde women deflate a little when they heard Chuck was her boyfriend and tried not to think poorly of them as a result.

"I'm Mandy and this is Molly, guess us blondes will have to stick together and let all these big strong guys take care of us," one of the blondes, who it seemed were some sort of hockey cheerleaders – Sarah didn't realize they had hockey cheerleaders, giggled.

Sarah just smiled and nodded and felt Chuck's hand at the small of her back provide a little warmth and support to prevent her from explaining just how little Sarah needed a guy to take care of her.

"Guess we are on the first flight," Molly sensed the tension.

"Yeah, we had a slight edge since we live here, knew all the back roads to LAX," Chuck explained.

"Us too, you're from around here?" Mandy sidled close to Chuck, apparently not put off by Sarah's presence at all.

Sarah had to admit the 2 women were stunningly beautiful, any man would think so and the 4 other guys in the gate area: Doug and his cousin Joe and twins Gary & Greg certainly seemed tripping over their tongues for them, but Chuck just nodded and smiled his normal friendly-Chuck smile.

"Born and raised, well me any way, Sarah grew up…" Chuck realized he still didn't really know.

"All over, my dad travelled a lot for work. I've lived here for a couple years now though," Sarah covered up easily.

The 8 participants chatted for the next hour, Sarah got no real sense any of them were the Ring recruiter though.

"Want some snacks for the flight?" Chuck asked about 20 minutes before boarding.

Sarah nodded, "I can sit with the stuff. Get me a bottle of water and some nuts, please?"

"You got it. Anyone else want anything?" Chuck offered.

The guys all grunted their equivalent of "no thanks" but Mandy hopped up.

"I'll go with you," she offered, "Molly, want anything?"

"No, I got some things when we cleared security," Molly looked confused which made Sarah think Mandy had already bought her snacks too.

Sarah watched as Mandy animatedly talked to Chuck as they walked towards the newsstand. She even reached out and wrapped her arms around one of his, laughingly excessively at something he said. It wasn't until one of the guys repeated a question to Sarah about her job that she realized she was staring, that she was jealous.

Jealousy wasn't new for Sarah. She had been painfully jealous of Lou and Jill, she knew she had feelings for Chuck that really needed to be addressed beyond the vague conversations they've had about real relationships and there being an "us" between them.

Sarah let go of that thought and turned her attention to the conversation in the gate area. Chuck returned with her requested water and some unsalted almonds and an unrequested bag of Skittles that he knew she loved.

"We'll share them," he said when he handed them over. He always said that so she wouldn't feel guilty eating them, he usually had 2 or 3.

"Thanks," she said sincerely.

Soon enough they were boarding, the other 3 pairs were back in the middle of the plane, the closest team 6 rows behind Chuck and Sarah. There was a young guy already curled up to sleep against the window of their row, so Sarah slipped into the middle seat and angled her body towards Chuck as he folded his long frame into the aisle seat.

Once the flight attendants went over the safety instructions in English and Spanish and the pilots said hello they were taxiing down the runway.

"We're off," Chuck said unnecessarily as the plane lifted from the ground.

"We are," Sarah smiled.

Chuck cracked open his water and a comic book he had in his bag.

"Did you get that at the newsstand or was it packed for you?" Sarah asked quietly.

"I got it at the newsstand. Definitely crushed my cool factor with Molly though."

"It was Mandy and she certainly seemed interested enough comics or no comics," Sarah pursed her lips.

"I…" Chuck just smiled, "I am not going to say anything."

"What?"

"You seem concerned about Molly."

"Mandy."

"See, I don't even know which one is which," Chuck defended himself.

"Well she seems predatory."

"Do you think she's who we're looking for," Chuck whispered.

"No," Sarah blew out a breath.

"OK," Chuck nodded, he now understood that Sarah's concern over Mandy or Molly was strictly personal.

Sarah watched a movie while Chuck read. They each had a drink and some food and as the day ended and night fell upon the plane the cabin lights were dimmed. Sarah returned from the restroom and Chuck took his turn.

"We should get a couple hours sleep," Sarah suggested when he returned.

"Yeah, we have to change planes at 1:00 am," Chuck looked at the itinerary, "it's 10:00 now."

Sarah reclined and wiggled a bit in the middle seat trying to get comfortable. Chuck reclined his seat as well and turned away from the aisle, his side bumping against the arm rest.

"What if we, um, what if we put this up?"

"Yeah, good idea," Sarah smiled and Chuck raised the arm rest giving them a little bit of extra shared space that they both happily migrated to.

The cabin of the plane was a little chilly and Chuck was always so warm, Sarah tried to tell herself that was why she was leaning in to his space.

Sarah woke first as the plane began its decent into Lima, Peru – their first lay over. Her face was close to Chuck's and as her vision adjusted to the light she saw his eyelids flutter and she sat back quickly putting some space between them.

"Are we there yet?" Chuck rasped, his eyes still closed.

"Almost."

Just as Sarah spoke the flight attendants asked everyone to return their seats and tray tables to upright positions and soon they were off the plane and in the Jorge Chavez International airport.

"Not much doing at 1:00 am," Chuck noticed.

"As long as the ladies room is open," Sarah kept her eyes peeled for the universal sign for female bathroom.

Their next flight was three and a half hours to Santiago and the pair fell asleep quickly.

"We have almost 2 hours here in Santiago," Sarah said as they deplaned.

"Breakfast?" Chuck asked hopefully.

"I feel like this whole trip is going to be you eating and me looking for bathrooms," Sarah laughed.

"Possibly, but with the added bonus of foreign languages I don't speak," Chuck grinned.

He hadn't even told Sarah that the Intersect knows languages, there was so much she didn't know yet.

"I have a feeling you will do just fine, Chuck. People like you, you are friendly and that transcends language," Sarah patted his shoulder as she led him to a restaurant for breakfast.

The last flight was just over 2 hours from Santiago to Iquique, it was a smaller plane with just two seats on each side of the aisle. With no third party involved Sarah gave Chuck the window and watched him curl up against his jacket and sleep another 90 minutes before Sarah shook him awake.

"You know where we're going when we land?" Sarah realized she hadn't even seen the first clue.

"Yep, cab to the address on the card," Chuck mumbled sleepily and pulled the card from his back pocket.

"This says Bright Horizons in Spanish, wonder what it is?"

"I googled it, it is either a day care center or hang gliding. I am assuming the latter," he started to wake up and Sarah offered him water from her bottle when his was empty.

"Thanks," he smiled and took a big sip.

It was a mad dash to the cab stand and Chuck stowed the bags while Sarah showed the address to the cab driver who smiled and seemed to know exactly where they were going, which did in fact appear to be a paragliding set up.

The first challenge was a Roadblock, which meant they were given a vague clue and they had to decide which of the two of them would do the challenge based solely on the clue.

"Who's good at follow the leader?" Chuck read.

Sarah looked at him with her agent face and Chuck laughed out loud.

"Me, I am good at following the leader," he teased and she shook off her stern face.

What they did not realize is that meant Sarah was the one gliding and Chuck and his cab driver had to track her and follow her to the undisclosed landing spot.

"Cool," Sarah grinned when she realized what she was going to get to do.

"Be careful," Chuck cringed as Sarah got harnessed into the two-person paraglider.

"I'll be fine," Sarah assured him, he knew she had done much more dangerous things in her career, but he just got back to her after 3 very long months away.

"I'll see you at the end. Have fun," he kissed her cheek for the cover, yeah the cover.

Chuck stood back and watched as Sarah and her guide ran right off the side of the cliff and soared out over the landscape. Chuck looked around and watched the angle the glider turned, there was a long stretch of beach below, certainly that would be a good safe landing space. Doing a little quick math in his head based on the angle and the speed a glider could reach he jogged back to the cab.

Chuck knew a little Spanish, anyone who grew up in Southern California did if they were at all observant, so he asked the driver if there was a certain beach these gliders landed at and the driver said there was. As the cab wound its way down the road Chuck twisted and turned to keep Sarah in his sites. Her glider was bright orange with a turquoise stripe.

By the time he got to the beach there were 4 gliders in the air, but Sarah's was the only orange one and as she got closer he could see the huge smile on her face. In perfect Sarah fashion her landing was graceful and easy, her guide praising her as he helped her out of the rig. When she and Chuck were reunited a World Challenge staff person appeared and handed them their next envelope.

Mandy and Molly and the 4 guys were right behind them, so Chuck and Sarah jogged along the sand. Chuck stopped though, grabbed Sarah by the elbow to slow her down.

"What? You OK?" Sarah asked, expecting the old Chuck who was winded after a short jog, but he looked fine, like he could run ten miles all of a sudden.

"I'm fine. Look," he turned her back towards the golden crescent of sand, the teal blue water and brighter blue sky.

"I know, I saw it all on the way down," she smiled at him and then took off again towards their cab.

***555***

Stop 2 in Iquique was a very small fishing port called Muelle Prat. The boats were wooden and old looking, but towered next to the tiny rowboats tied up near the World Challenge clue box.

"Roadblock," Chuck reported, "and it says you have to do it since you glided."

Chuck handed the envelope over to Sarah.

"OK," she nodded after she read it.

"What is it?' he took the clue back.

"I have to row that tiny boat out to bigger boats and ask for 5 fish, each boat has a different number of fish available and only the boats on the list have fish at all. Since we are first this should be easy, all the boats should be fully stocked," Sarah took off her pack and handed it to Chuck.

There were some benches on the dock so Chuck sat and watched as Sarah hopped in to the little row boat, it rocked gently under her weight and she quickly held her arms out to balance and still the boat, she really was a ninja.

"Do you need the card for the boat names?" Chuck realized there was a list on the clue.

"I got 'em," Sarah smiled.

"Of course you do," Chuck shook his head with a grin.

As Sarah began to paddle out of the slip Doug and Jake appeared on the dock, they raced to the clue box and read out loud as Mandy & Molly joined them, Chuck could hear another cab that was likely Gary & Greg. Chuck realized he had no idea where the other teams were, he hadn't even met some of the people yet.

Sarah maneuvered the old boat easily, it had a deeper hull than she thought, but with her height it was manageable. There were no oar locks so steering and turning was challenging, but not impossible. She approached the first boat and read the name painted on the side, it wasn't on the list so she headed further out, when she came upon a boat from the list she politely asked for "cinco pescado" and was rewarded with 5 big stinky fish.

"You handle that boat pretty well there, Sarah," Jake mentioned as he rowed by.

"It's a row boat, not an aircraft carrier, I got it," she joked, Jake didn't need to know that she had in fact piloted an air craft carrier once.

When Sarah got back to the dock she hopped out and tied up the boat.

"You have to deliver the fish," Chuck pointed to a guy standing by a fish drying rack of some kind.

"OK," Sarah shrugged and reached down to grab one of the fish by its tail.

It was heavy and slippery so Sarah held it with both arms and hustled over to the man. She made 5 of those trips and when she gave him the last fish he gave her an envelope.

"Gracias," Sarah smiled as she handed the envelope off to Chuck and wiped her fishy hands on her shirt.

"We have to walk to this place," Chuck showed her a picture.

"I saw that in the cab, I know the way," she took her pack from him, they waved to the teams still there and headed out.

"Do you think it's another challenge?" Chuck asked.

"I don't know. Jen said multiple challenges a day, this has been pretty easy though."

"Sure, for a ninja assassin like yourself," Chuck said quietly.

"What exactly have you done today?" she arched an eyebrow.

"Hardly anything but flub my way through some Spanish," he agreed.

"Exactly," Sarah pointed to an intersection and they headed toward the building in the photo.

When they arrived at the beautiful old building with the fancy fountains out front Jen was there.

"Congratulations, Chuck and Sarah, you are the first team to check in today. That will give you a head start tomorrow, but for now you are done."

"Awesome," Chuck smiled.

"This is the Teatre Municipal, built in 1889 it is home to the Iquique ballet and philharmonic. It is open to the public, you are free to check it out and there are restrooms inside. Out back there is a big gazebo with some snacks. Once everyone has checked in you will all head back to the beach for dinner and tonight's accommodations are at a hotel nearby. Any questions?"

"Nope, I think we've got it," Sarah shaded her eyes from the bright sunshine.

"Enjoy the afternoon then," Jen looked past them to see Doug and Jake jogging towards them.

"Teams one and two!" Doug exclaimed as he offered Chuck and Sarah high fives.

"We'll see you out back," Chuck returned the high five and flung his arm over Sarah's shoulder.

While Doug and Jake were getting the spiel, Sarah led Chuck to the theatre and right to the restrooms.

"I smell like fish, I need to wash up a bit."

"OK, I'm going to wander in to the theatre and look around and then head out back to the gazebo."

"I'll find you," Sarah almost leaned in to kiss him, but there was no one around, was this a cover any more? Instead of answering her own question she just turned on her heel and went in to the ladies' room.

Sarah used the facilities and then hiked her bag up on the windowsill to take a look at what was in there. She was happy to find that it had been packed by a pro, there were big zip top bags for dirty things and her fish-drenched shirt went right in one, it could be washed at the hotel. The day had proved warm and if dinner was going to be on the beach Sarah found a pair of shorts and a tee shirt in the bag that would be more comfortable. She washed up, changed and brushed her hair out of the bun it was in pulling it in to a more stylish ponytail. She even found sunscreen and a lip gloss in her preferred shade in one of the pockets.

Chuck wandered in to the theatre, which was amazingly beautiful – incredibly ornate.

"Wow," he said out loud to no one.

There were signs in English and Spanish talking about the theatre and a small door at the base of the stage that led down below. Chuck took the stairs down careful not to bump his head. Underneath the stage was an intricate system of pulleys and platforms that could raise performers up seemingly from nowhere on to the stage, Chuck was impressed with the rigging, but the gurgling in his stomach drew him out of the theatre and towards the snacks.

Chuck found a back entrance that opened on to a huge expanse of green grass, a big gazebo in the middle of it and a view down to the ocean beyond. He was the only one there, he didn't even see any World Challenge staff. Chuck hadn't been alone much lately. His training seemed to be 24/7 with a team of doctors and agents at his side at all times.

The new Intersect was proving fascinating in many ways, but he also sometimes had trouble controlling it properly. That was part of why Beckman sent him on this mission, with the Intersect not needed it would give their scientists some time to try to figure out why it occasionally seized up on him.

For now, Chuck was treating this as a working vacation. Sure, they had a mission and an important one, but it was just getting under way and Chuck had no doubt he and Sarah could make it to the end of the challenge and unmask the recruiter. So, for now he grabbed a bottle of water and a plate of fruit and cheese and picked a spot to stretch out on the grass.

When Sarah emerged, it was easy to spot Chuck's long body reclined on the grass. He had traded in his Chuck's for a pair of flip flops and he cuffed his jeans up a little at the ankle. His hoodie was long gone and he had a brick red tee shirt on that looked just the slightest bit tight in the most perfect possible way.

"Checking out your own boyfriend?" Doug asked.

He didn't startle Sarah as she heard the door creak open behind her.

"What if I was?" she asked with a wink.

"I like you, you are saucy," Doug jogged up to the gazebo and surveyed the snacks.

Sarah joined him.

"Where's your brother?"

"Cousin," Doug corrected, "he wanted to check out the theatre."

"You guys grow up together? You close?"

"Yeah, we're both only children, so while he isn't my brother he might as well be."

"That's nice, I'm an only child too," Sarah realized that was kind of false as she thought about the baby her mother was raising.

"Did you have a kick ass cousin who lived close by?"

"I did not, but Chuck has a sister, she's amazing. So, I am making up for it now," Sarah just kept talking, it was weird to say so many true things to a stranger.

Sarah took her food and her water and went down to join Chuck.

"This seat taken?"

"It's all yours," Chuck held his arm out to the enormous swath of green and then popped a grape in his mouth.

"Thanks," Sarah sank into a cross-legged position while sliding her pack off and not upsetting her plate of food.

Chuck didn't say anything but his eyes widened at the graceful move.

"You changed," he said unnecessarily.

"I smelled like fish and I had those clothes on for like 36 hours," she wrinkled her nose.

"You'll let me know if I start to smell."

Sarah leaned over, real close and inhaled.

"So far so good," she patted him on the chest and then dove in to her snacks.

When the food was gone, Chuck and Sarah put their packs behind them and relaxed for a while. The guys from their flight had a game of hacky sack going on and Molly and Mandy seemed happy to watch that. Eventually the other teams trickled in and soon the sun was heading towards the ocean.

Chuck and Sarah joined the group as Jen approached, there were mini busses ready to take everyone to dinner.

Dinner was a well-appointed barbecue on the beach with amazing shrimp tacos and delicious cocktails. Music was playing from speakers and tiki torches framed a make shift dance floor. There were quite a few new World Challenge faces and Chuck left Sarah under a palm tree to get them new drinks and made the rounds introducing himself. Sarah noticed what a natural he was with this aspect of spy craft, better even than she was because his interest in strangers was genuine, he wasn't putting on an act, this was Chuck – curious and kind.

"I don't think we've met, I'm Kevin," a guy was ducking in to Sarah's space.

"Sarah," she offered him her hand, but she instantly disliked him.

He was probably shorter than her, 6 or 7 inches shorter than Chuck, but bulky in a gym rat kind of way.

"Were you on the first flight?"

"I was," Sarah nodded and continued to eat.

"We wound up on the last flight because Lucy insisted she knew a short cut to the airport."

"Is Lucy your wife?" Sarah hoped.

"My ex."

"Really? Interesting partner choice."

"We're actually really good friends, but we just don't work as a couple."

"Oh?" Sarah was suddenly curious about this guy.

"We worked together and got along great, we were really good team mates and then we decided to date and everything got complicated and messy. We've broken up like 6 times and I think this time is the last, but who knows after this crazy trip, maybe we'll give it another try."

"Hitting on all the blondes?" a shrill voice emerged and Sarah recognized the pink streaked hair from the initial meeting.

"Just getting to know the people we missed thanks to your driving tour of El Segundo," he snarked.

"I'm Sarah and this is Chuck," Sarah was relieved that Chuck had returned, "my boyfriend."

"Lucy and Kevin," Sarah informed.

The foursome sat and ate together amiably, Lucy had done the paragliding and she was at her least annoying when she went on and on about how beautiful it was. Sarah agreed profusely and there was some common ground.

Later everyone was dancing, even Erica and Josh the older couple with all the kids.

"We should dance," Sarah suggested, "we look conspicuous over here."

"I'm game," Chuck hopped up and brushed sand off his butt.

"Really? I thought you didn't dance."

"That was first date Chuck being super shy. You've seen me do many humiliating things now, my dance moves won't scare you off," he said as he moved ahead and reached back to offer her a hand up.

Sarah just shook her head and laughed. The pair joined the mass of people dancing with no real focus, just hopping around fueled by rum and the sweet salty air of the beach. Chuck leaned down and whispered against Sarah's ear, "I can totally handle this."

Sarah took advantage of his comment to move in a little closer, her hip bumping his as she moved. He reached out and held her waist. Sarah had forgotten how good it felt to be touched by Chuck, to be held by him.

The sun was long gone, the cool breeze off the ocean sent a shudder through Sarah as they returned to their spot by the tree after dancing. Chuck unzipped his bag and found his hoodie, handing it over to her without comment.

"Thanks," she said as she slipped her arms in and zipped it up.

"OK, troops time to head to the hotel. We have staff there with your room keys ready. Your day starts at 9:00 am tomorrow, except for Chuck & Sarah who get a 30-minute head start as winners of today's round. Breakfast is at 8:00, clues will be handed out there. Sleep well," Jen pointed them back towards the mini busses, some folks a little unsteady on their feet.

Chuck and Sarah had had a couple cocktails, but both were well under control as they observed everyone piling in to the busses. They took mental note of who seemed to be friendly with who and who was being more observant than others.

"Sorry, mate," a young Australian guy in a World Challenge shirt approached Chuck and Sarah at the hotel.

"What's wrong?" Chuck frowned.

"I know you guys are a couple, your profile said you preferred a single bed, but this hotel only gave us 2 bedded rooms, everyone has their own bed tonight," the guy frowned.

"Oh, that's fine," Sarah smiled, "we need the sleep," she winked and took the key packet.

As soon as they were in the room Sarah held her finger to her lips.

"Dinner sure was good," she said conversationally as she unclipped the butterfly charm from her back pack.

She used her thumbnail to remove one of the wings and inside was a tiny toggle she flipped and watched the blinking red light as she walked around the room. Chuck knew what she was doing right away.

"I think I ate 20 shrimp," he watched as she moved into the bathroom.

"We're clear," she said as the charm glowed solid green, Sarah replaced the wing and clipped the surveillance monitor back on her bag.

"Do you think they are surveilling us?"

"Never can be too sure, when I saw the butterfly thing I knew it had to be a company toy, I'm not really a butterfly girl."

"Smart thinking Agent Walker," he whispered in case the walls were thin.

"I'm going to shower," Sarah hooked her thumb towards the bathroom.

"OK," Chuck nodded remembering the night in Barstow and as if reading his mind Sarah grabbed a tee shirt and a pair of panties out of her pack along with something in a Ziploc bag.

Sarah took a thorough but quick shower, washing her hair and combing it out. She washed the fishy tee shirt from earlier and hung it on the towel rack to hopefully dry overnight.

"Your turn," she announced as she emerged in the tee shirt and panties.

"Thanks," Chuck said although his voice was a little hoarse.

The beds were small, not even quite full sized in the US, like a twin with a couple extra inches, which suited Sarah fine, she did need some real sleep and having Chuck so close might make that harder than it should be. Sarah slid into the one closest to the door and set her alarm for 7:00 before turning off the light.

Check came out of the bathroom to darkness and promptly stubbed his toe.

"Owww," he grunted.

"You OK?" Sarah asked from the darkness.

"Yeah, just clumsy."

"So not everything about you has changed," Sarah teased.

"You think I've changed?"

"Some, I don't really know what you've been through."

"I'll tell you Sarah, when we have a little free time."

Chuck found his bed and managed to get in without any further issue.

"Good night, Sarah," he whispered.

"Good night…. Chuck, what if us being a couple is a bad idea?"

TBC… and don't panic you guys know how I feel about Chuck and Sarah together….


	3. Iquique P2

Notes: Thanks for the continued encouragement!

Iquique Part 2

"Sarah, what do you mean?" Chuck asked quietly across the dark room.

"What if we ruin everything?" Sarah sat up, the crisp cotton sheets rustling with her movement.

"Ruin what?"

"Us. What makes us special."

"You think we're special?" Chuck kept his voice measured and calm.

"I do. I've never had a relationship with anyone like I have with you. We work well together, we are good friends, I trust you. What if we start adding romance in to that and it messes up the good things."

"Where is this coming from?"

"Kevin and Lucy, they've broken up like 6 times and Kevin said they are really good friends and worked together once," Sarah was close to babbling.

"Sarah, don't freak out. We don't know Kevin and Lucy yet, they could be complete crazy people."

"But emotions and sex, it makes things more complicated," Sarah continued.

"Sure, but it is a standard risk assessment, does the benefit outweigh the risk," Chuck had turned on his side, his pillow curled under his head.

There was a nightstand between the 2 small beds, but if he reached out he could touch her.

"And while the physical aspect of our relationship has not happened yet I think it is safe to say the emotion has been there for a while," he smiled and she could hear it in his voice.

"I still feel like we could dial it back before we go too far."

"Is that what you want? To go back to the beginning when we, well you really, denied our feelings."

"Yeah you weren't real big on denying anything," Sarah laughed.

"I care about you Sarah, I have from the beginning. Our situation brought us to this place a lot faster than most couples. We didn't have regular dinner dates, we had dinner with a side of international assassins, it ratcheted up the feelings. You save a guy's life enough times he's going to fall for you," he teased.

"So you have similar feelings for Casey?"

"I did tell him I loved him once after a particular harrowing lifesaving," Chuck admitted.

"I wish I could have seen that."

"You were busy taking down a man three times your size."

"I don't want to mess this up. I don't want to hurt you."

"Sarah, not trying would hurt more. I will gladly go at your pace, but please don't take one weird couple's history as evidence that friends can't be more than that."

"OK," she whispered.

"Sleep on it, OK?"

"Goodnight, Chuck."

"Goodnight, Sarah."

***555***

Chuck woke up ahead of the alarm the next morning and before he opened his eyes he knew someone was watching him.

"Morning, Sarah," he said, his own eyes still closed.

"How'd you know I was awake?" she asked curiously.

"I can feel you looking at me."

"Wow, you've been trained well."

"That's not the agency, that is growing up with Ellie. After my mom left, Ellie was always frantic I would get sick. She watched me like a hawk, morning noon and night. I like to think," Chuck rolled over and stretched, "that I am the reason she became a doctor."

"Did you get sick a lot?" Sarah had so many unanswered questions about Chuck's mom and dad, even having met Stephen Bartowski the idea of leaving Ellie and Chuck was just too crazy.

"No more than the average kid. I still have my tonsils and my appendix, broke my wrist in high school trying to help Morgan with a science experiment," he shuddered.

"Do I want to know?" Sarah arched her brow and Chuck noticed that she was all dressed.

"Do you want to know?" he asked.

Sarah knew the question was weighted, that her asking about his childhood, even being curious about it was a sign of the kind of emotional attachment she seemed terrified of the night before. She did as Chuck asked though and she slept on it and she slept soundly. She was, of course, exhausted after their travel and day of adventure in Chile, but still the spy slept soundly with Chuck right there, no tossing and turning, no fussing and fretting.

"Yes," she said confidently, making sure he could see the deeper meaning in her words.

"OK, but after I tell you this story you may never want to actually have sex with me," he teased and hopped out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Sarah threw a pillow at the closed the bathroom door.

***555***

Breakfast was robust and Chuck ate again as if he hadn't ever eaten before.

"Are you still growing? Where do you put all that food?" Sarah laughed as she speared a piece of fruit and dipped it in her yogurt.

Chuck just grinned, he didn't want to tell her that even without using the Intersect this new version required more of him, taxed his body a bit. The scientists at the CIA had found a way to regulate it so he got fewer headaches, had fewer nightmares, but it still resulted in a speedy metabolism.

"Morning you two," Jen greeted with an envelope in hand.

"Good morning," the pair responded in unison.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes, a bed felt amazing after a night of plane sleeping," Chuck commented.

"You did great yesterday, Sarah you paraglided like a pro," Jen said as she sat with the pair.

"I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, rock climbing, bungee jumping," she shrugged.

"And you Chuck?" Jen sipped her coffee.

"I'm more of a wait in the car kind of guy," he smiled at Sarah and she punched him in the shoulder.

"Like hell you are."

Chuck just winked at her and stole a grape off her plate.

"Today will be a whole new adventure for you," Jen offered.

"Every day with Sarah has been," Chuck said honestly.

Jen smiled at them warmly, she definitely bought their cover – not that it was much of a cover.

"You two ready for day two?" Kevin asked as he sat across from Sarah.

"We are, in fact we have to head out," Chuck stood and cleared Sarah's plate with his own.

"Have a good day," Sarah waved and followed Chuck, unwilling to get sucked in to the Kevin/Lucy drama again.

"Hey Jen," Sarah called after the woman," who got eliminated last night?"

"No one, we give everyone one round to get comfortable," she explained as Sarah scanned the room.

"Oh good, I feel like I haven't even talked to some of the people," Chuck mentioned.

"One pair will be eliminated today, but the remaining folks – and I am betting you will still be here – will have a couple days to get to know one another."

"Really?" Sarah was intrigued.

"I've already said too much, your advantage starts in 5 minutes, have a great day!"

***555***

Their first clue was to take a cab to the Museo Corbeta de Esmerelda. Chuck had already read about it online, it was one of Iquique's most popular tourist spots, a replica of a ship from the Pacific War. The ship had actually been captured and sunk, but the Captain of the ship was a bit of a legend.

Sarah paid their driver and asked him to wait for them, he winked at Sarah which the pair took as his confirmation. There was 10 minutes until the ticket booth opened, which cut their lead to only 20 minutes. Chuck noticed a World Challenge staffer talking to the ticket agent who let him on with the clue box.

"That is Javier, has worked for World Challenge for 2 years, really nice guy. I talked with him last night at the barbecue. I cross confirmed with Jen he has been here 2 years, she said he came right from college in Boston."

"Did he say anything that raised a flag?"

"No, just how much he liked his job, which I think he was being honest about."

Sarah nodded and Chuck could tell she was already assessing the ship they were about to board.

"We could split up, I can go below deck," she offered.

"We still have a little lead, let's just enjoy it," Chuck put his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts and looked away from her.

"OK," she smiled.

The ticket booth agent nodded to them at 2 minutes to 9:00 and Sarah bought their tickets. They walked the gangway on to the ship and strolled around the deck. Near the back of the ship was the clue box, Javier nowhere in sight. Chuck pulled the clue out, it was written in old timey English. They had to search the ship for the famous quote from the ship's Captain.

Sarah read the signs as they meandered the deck and finally found their way to the lower level. Chuck seemed fascinated by everything even though he kept bumping his head on the low ceilings. Finally over a desk in the lower office of the ship she saw scrawled across the wall in Spanish, "Charge the ship, men!"

"It sounds better in Spanish," Chuck mentioned as they made their way back to the ticket taker who, upon hearing the call, was supposed to give them the next clue.

"Huh?"

"The famous saying is pretty lame Sarah. It certainly is no 'damn the torpedoes, full-speed ahead!'," he held his arm up in the universal symbol for charge.

Sarah just smiled at him and hopped down off the ship and approached the kindly man in the ticket booth, she recited the saying and Chuck & Sarah had their next clue in hand before any other teams were at the Esmerelda.

Their cab driver was still waiting and Sarah negotiated the fare for the next leg as they were going a bit out of town to a salt mine.

"Iquique and Chile in general, known for their salt," Chuck mentioned as he watched the town go by out his window.

"Salt mines are hot and smelly," Sarah said with authority.

"I can't say I have ever hung out in one."

Sarah wanted to tell Chuck about a particular stake out in a Belarussian salt mine, but the cab driver seemed very interested in their banter. She didn't perceive him as a threat, but she also thought he understood more English than he let on.

As the ride continued Sarah took her water out and drank thirstily, she handed the bottle over to Chuck and when he seemed enthralled with something out the window she squeezed his bare knee to get his attention, he turned to her with a smile and took the water bottle.

"This is fun," he mentioned as he capped the bottle.

"Remind me of that when we have to eat pig brains or something," she shuddered.

"Admit it, you are having fun."

"I enjoy riddles and puzzles and…"

"What?" he asked when she stopped talking.

"You. I enjoy you," she squeezed his knee again.

***555***

The cab could only go so far and where he left them there was a rack of bikes. The clue had a map, but there weren't a lot of landmarks in the big open space. Chuck and Sarah hopped on the bikes and peddled along.

"Come and knock on our door…." Chuck sang as he peddled.

"We'll be waiting for you…." He continued.

"What's that?" Sarah queried.

"TV theme song. Three's Company," he smiled.

"Don't know it," she shrugged.

"It's before our time, but a classic. Two girls and a guy share an apartment, hijinks ensue. John Ritter was in it, he was amazingly funny."

"How did you get to be so smart watching so much TV and so many movies and playing so many video games?"

"There's value in lots of things Sarah, I learned from all sorts of things in life, not just school."

"Keep singing," she encouraged and Chuck sang the whole song as they peddled.

The Irlanda Salt Mines did in fact turn out to be stinky and hot as Sarah predicted. Here they were faced with a Detour: Mining or Brining. If they chose mining they had to bust up a huge salt rock to find a tiny clue hidden inside. Brining required them to move bags of salt to small pools and add enough salt to float their bodies.

"Let's do that one," Sarah pointed to brining.

"You sure?"

"Yep, the salt will be heavy, but it is a more precise process then aimlessly hacking away at a rock."

"We have to get wet though."

"Trust me, 15 minutes in this salt flat and we will be ready for a salt bath."

Sarah talked to the World Challenge rep and gave her their answer. The salt mine staff explained the process. They filled the tubs with salt and then got in and had to float enough to read the paper without it getting wet. As Sarah was agreeing to the terms a couple more teams arrived.

"Let's do this," Sarah smiled and hefted a heavy bag of salt on her shoulder.

Chuck and Sarah worked in unison and after about 20 minutes of back and forth Sarah thought it might be salty enough to give it a try.

"Only one of us should undress and get wet though because if we need more salt the other one needs to get it."

"You go ahead, I'll do the extra salt run."

Sarah had gotten the scoop on what they could or could not wear in the tub, basically anything as long as it was something. So without further ado she stripped down to her underwear.

"Don't you want your swimsuit?" Chuck pointed toward the bags.

"Nah, it'll be easier to change out of this," she said as she folder her clothes neatly in a pile.

Sarah was far from modest and she knew Chuck had seen her in her underwear before, but she was slightly taken aback when a couple of the guys who had arrived actively stopped what they were doing to look at her.

"I'm going to get in," Sarah said as she tied her hair up.

As soon as she was in the water she knew it wasn't salty enough.

"We need a few more bags," she hopped up and watched as Chuck jogged back to the flats of bags.

After 4 more bags were added Sarah slipped in and floated fine.

"I think, we're good. This actually feels really good," she smiled as Chuck unbuttoned his shorts.

Sarah knew Chuck was not a fan of public nakedness so she was impressed when he stripped down with little fuss. As he pulled the shirt off over his head she saw what she suspected, some significant muscle definition, quite a bit for only 3 months of training.

"I'm coming in," he warned as he stepped in and disrupted the water.

Sarah sat up as he sat beside her and then they both leaned back at the same time, the water buoying them up. The World Challenge crew brought over the newspapers and Chuck and Sarah opened them and read as if they were on vacation.

After a couple of minutes and a full inspection by the salt mine staff they were told they had succeeded. Other teams were getting in the water so Sarah took the clue and the towels they were offered and dried herself off quickly. There was some privacy behind the pile of salt bags and the pair retreated there and changed back-to-back. Sarah offered Chuck her open Ziploc bag for his wet boxer briefs and he dropped them in.

"You good?" she asked before turning around.

"Yeah," he replied, but when Sarah turned he was still shaking out his tee shirt, just his cargo shorts back in place.

Sarah was face to pecks with Chuck's chest.

"My eyes are up here," he teased.

"You've been working out," she passed it off as professional observation.

"Whether I wanted to or not," he grinned.

"We have a clue, but as soon as we get some time," Sarah reached out and took his hand, squeezed it.

Chuck fished the clue out of the pile of towels, it was a little damp, but none the worse for wear.

"Bus station, next stop Santiago," Chuck informed.

"Santiago? We flew from there, why are we going by bus?" she kind of whined.

"I do not make the rules, Miss Walker," he shouldered his bag and headed back to the bikes.

***555***

Chuck read the bus schedule and there were multiple routes to Santiago. Since no other teams or World Challenge staff were around, Sarah used her Spanish to chat with the ticket seller and find out which bus was fastest, there was one that left sooner but was a more local route that took almost 4 hours longer than the one that left an hour later Sarah used the money they were given that day and bought two tickets for the 24-hour journey.

"Lot of variables with bus travel, traffic and engine trouble, rowdy passengers," Sarah was giving the pre-mission briefing on a bus ride.

"It is going to be an adventure, Sarah. Let's go get food and water."

"We should lay low too, maybe some of the others will take the earlier departure not realizing it takes longer," Sarah was showing her gamesmanship.

Chuck had thought the same thing, he had spotted a café down the road, off a side alley.

"I saw a place," he tilted his head toward the back door of the station and Sarah followed.

The café was not very crowded, lunch time having passed so Chuck and Sarah took a seat near the back and Sarah read from the menu. They ordered hot food for now and some sandwiches to take on the bus, Sarah asked for a couple of almond cookies she had seen in the case and fruit and water to go as well.

The food came out looking great and smelling even better.

"This place was a good find, Chuck."

"I saw a group of locals coming out with big bags," he shrugged.

"Always eat where the locals eat," Sarah nodded as she took her first bite and moaned around the chicken and rice.

"Good?" Chuck smiled as he took his own bite, his eyes wide.

The pair ate their fill, they still had 40 minutes until their bus and the café wasn't crowded so they ordered some more lemonade and enjoyed the breeze from the ceiling fan. Chuck excused himself to the bathroom and came back with his face pink and his hair wet.

"I had to rinse off a little of the salt," he admitted.

"Good idea, I might have rethought that challenge if I knew we were facing a 24-hour bus ride," she wrinkled her nose.

Sarah took her own turn in the bathroom, taking advantage of the running water before the bus. When she returned to the table she saw Chuck talking to Erica and Josh.

"Hi," Sarah waved.

"HI Sarah," Erica scooted over so Sarah could take her seat back, "we honed in on your table."

"No worries," Sarah smiled.

"Erica and Josh had the same plan we did, try and disappear until the earlier bus leaves."

"So, you're on the 3 pm with us?"

"We are," Josh confirmed.

"Well we will get to know each other, there is not much to do on a bus for 24 hours," Sarah sighed.

"She is upset that we flew here form Santiago and now we have to bus back," Chuck explained.

"It is illogical."

"It's part of the game," Chuck explained.

"I'll take an opinion poll on that about 18 hours in," Sarah looked at him pointedly.

***555***

Turned out there were 4 teams on their bus, everyone had figured out the bus routes, but there were only 8 seats left on the more direct bus. Chuck, Sarah, Erica and Josh were joined by Alan and Zeke, the big guys Chuck had talked to at the movie lot and a pair of women Sarah hadn't even noticed the night before.

"I'm Sarah," she introduced herself and hooked a thumb at Chuck who was stowing their bags, "and that's Chuck."

"I'm Kelly and this is my friend Monica."

"Nice to meet you."

The 4 pairs managed to get seats near each other, which meant no mission talk for Chuck and Sarah, but a good chance to meet some of the other players.

The bus was comfortable, for a bus, and Sarah took the window with less leg room, allowing Chuck to at least stretch his legs a bit. Erica and Josh were right across the aisle, the guys behind them and the women behind Chuck and Sarah.

The announcement was only in Spanish and Sarah smiled when Erica translated for everyone.

"No smoking, no alcohol, there will be one stop in Los Olivos approximately 6:00 a.m. for 30 minutes for breakfast," Erica reported.

"We snagged us a local," Chuck teased.

"I work in an ER in New York, I speak a little Spanish," Erica said modestly.

"Are you a doctor?" Chuck asked.

"We both are," Josh smiled.

"That's so cool, my sister and her husband are both doctors," he grinned widely thinking of Ellie.

"It really works well, no one knows how hard a job it is better than another doctor, we cut each other a lot of slack," Erica explained.

"DO you have kids?" Sarah knew the answer to her question, but wanted to hear it from them.

"Four," Erica quickly pulled out her phone to share a photo.

"You guys are like real life super heroes," Chuck praised.

"We're a great team," Josh kissed his wife.

Conversation turned next to the two big guys.

"So, tell us, guys, are you two football players or something?" Josh asked.

"We are. We both played for a few years and had injuries, I was with the Texans and Zeke here played for Miami," Alan said.

"We met doing a charity thing and hit it off and when we both retired we realized we lived near each other in Atlanta," Zeke added.

"Very cool," Erica was kneeling up over her seat listening to them talk.

"And you guys?" Sarah asked the two women.

"We've been friends since Kindergarten. We're both stay-at-home moms from North Dakota, looking for a little adventure," Kelly smiled.

"Wow, this is pretty extreme adventure," Chuck looked amazed.

"Go big or go home," Monica smiled.

"You two live in LA, right?" Alan asked.

"We do," Chuck replied.

"Are you an actress, Sarah? Kelly and I were wondering, you are so pretty, figured you had to be a model or an actress," Betsy asked nervously.

"Thank you, but no. I made one TV commercial once, but that's it. I've been trying to find my place in LA. Right now, I work in one of 3,684 frozen yogurt shops in the area," she smiled with an eye roll.

"We've both been failing to live up to our potential, my dad bought us this trip as a kick to see the world and then come home and settle down. I assume he means with real jobs and a house or something," Chuck ran with their cover and Sarah was impressed.

The chit chat continued for a little while and eventually Chuck switched places with Erica and the boys were on one side of the aisle and the girls on the other. Alan and Zeke had a deck of cards and a game broke out while the women read and traded all the magazines they had between them.

Finally, around 8:00 pm Chuck was looking for his food. HE moved back to his original seat and Sarah grabbed the bags with the sandwiches fruit and cookies in it. The sandwich was cheese and veggies with a spicy tomato spread that was to die for. Chuck hummed in pleasure at the first bite and Sarah smiled at him, a big wrinkled nose smile.

Conversation faded as members of the various teams tried to get comfortable for the overnight. Chuck twisted and turned trying to find a good position.

"What if we switch and you take the window and stretch diagonally and I'll stretch the other way across you?"

Chuck and Sarah stood and shimmied by each other in the tight space, trying not to disrupt the people in front of them who had already fallen asleep. When they finished, they were in a bit of an X shape, Sarah's legs stretching over the tops of Chuck's knees, he reached out and put a hand on her jeans-covered thigh and felt her tremble.

"You cold?" he asked.

"A little," she admitted.

"Come over here, your back to my front," Chuck suggested.

"You want to spoon on a bus," she teased.

"It'll be warmer," he said as she stood and he curled his legs up on the seat she vacated.

There was enough room for her in front of Chuck if she didn't move a spec and before she could worry about that his long arms came out and held her back against him tightly. She tangled her legs with his on the other seat and the resulting position wasn't terrible.

"You OK?" he asked quietly.

"I am," she nodded.

"Good night, Sarah," he tenderly kissed her temple and she felt this flutter in her stomach, it wasn't new – Chuck had certainly caused it before, but it was surprising nonetheless.

"Good night, Chuck."

At some point in the night Sarah woke up, her arm under her head totally asleep, she had to shift her position and the only way to go was toward Chuck, if that wasn't the story of her recent life. So, she carefully scooted enough to flip to her other side, Chuck's arms had stayed securely around her and they now tightened in case she was falling. Once she was face to face with him she scooted back onto the seat more, closer to him and his arms cradled her against his body, her cheek found a spot on his chest and she quickly fell back to sleep.

The next time Sarah woke it was to the announcement that they were stopping for breakfast in 15 minutes. She emerged from sleep, blinking rapidly her eyes bleary as Chuck did the same and suddenly their eyes were locked, just like Barstow she felt the heat in his eyes, reflected it back from her own. This time though, they were not alone so instead of a frenzied passionate kiss Sarah leaned just the few inches closer and kissed Chuck softly, she didn't say anything and neither did he, but she knew he was remembering the same moment, that same passion.

***555***

When they arrived in Santiago it was late afternoon, they were about 20 minutes later than scheduled arrival time, but confident they were the first four teams there. From the bus station, they scurried to taxis which took them to Plaza de Armas where a World Challenge clue box awaited.

Erica and Josh were first with Chuck & Sarah getting the second clue, the other 2 teams right behind them.

"Roadblock: Who's got the knack to pack?"

Sarah just shrugged.

"I'll do it, you had to do the fish thing," Chuck offered.

"OK," Sarah agreed with a smile.

Turned out Chuck had to approach a shoe shine cart and offer to take over for the last hour of the day and then pack up the cart and wheel it back to the storage area a few blocks away.

"Seems straight forward," Chuck read it aloud.

"Something tells me packing the cart up is the tricky part."

"Yep," Chuck handed the clue off to Sarah who was going to wait in the sunny square by a fountain with the other non-active teammates.

"I'm going to grab some water, want one?" she asked Erica who was walking with her towards the fountain.

"Please," Erica smiled and Sarah fumbled her Spanish a bit on purpose.

"Not bad," Erica encouraged.

"We live in Southern California, I know a little," said the woman with 22 languages to her credit.

"You two were so cute last night," Erica mentioned.

"Hmmm?"

"I woke up to pee around 4:00 am and you and Chuck were all snuggled up. You looked so peaceful together, it was adorable."

"Yeah? Hard to imagine looking adorable crammed in those little seats."

"You did, you fit together perfectly," Erica accepted the water Sarah bought and took a long sip as Sarah smiled.

Chuck easily talked a shoe shine guy in to handing over his set up. Chuck assumed and hoped that the guy would be paid by World Challenge for the hour he lost of work. Sarah could see Chuck helping people and smiling like he shined shoes in Chile on a regular basis.

Josh was nearby and doing an equally fabulous job, they had crowds of curious onlookers around them as well as people who genuinely wanted a shoe shine. The hour passed easily and when the time was up Chuck laid out all the pieces and parts of the show shine kit, including the chair and the step for the customer to place his or her foot on. There were brushes and clothes, many smaller items and a rug.

Chuck looked at all the items and slowly began placing smaller items in larger ones and twisting and turning them within the cart. As he was finishing Josh was close behind so Sarah and Erica said good-bye to Kelly and Zeke and hello to the teams just arriving and went to join their shoe shine men.

The foursome walked the couple of blocks with Chuck and Josh in the lead, Chuck turned his cart in first and the inspector checked it out and gave him a thumbs up and handed him a clue envelope. Chuck and Sarah hung back and waited for Josh and Erica but Josh's cart was met with a thumbs down.

"Wonder what I did wrong?" Josh mused.

Chuck gave Sarah a look and she nodded her agreement, they were clearly in no danger of being eliminated so they might as well help.

"Mind if I take a look?" Chuck asked.

"Really? That'd be great," Josh said as he removed a couple items.

In a matter of minutes Chuck had turned the chair a different way which allowed the box of brushes to tuck in flush against the side. Josh got the smile and the clue from the guy in charge and the foursome were off in search of cabs.

The two cabs went in different directions through town and Josh and Erica were the first to arrive at the meeting spot, but they just couldn't check in without Chuck and Sarah so they waited the five minutes or so until the 2nd cab arrived.

"You waited?" Sarah said unnecessarily.

"We did," Erica patted her on the back and the four of them approached Jen.

"What do we have here? Erica and Josh I saw you get here a couple minutes ago?"

"Chuck and Sarah stayed back to help us finish the challenge, they would have been here way before us, they should be first," Josh explained.

"Oh, that's OK," Sarah waved off the compliment.

"Well…." Jen trailed off and pulled her walkie from her belt.

"Alexander, we have a tie situation, can we accommodate 2 pairs for tonight's reward?" the crackle of the walkie and few seconds later, "Sure, boss, no problem."

"Problem solved! Chuck, Sarah, Erica and Josh you are the first teams to arrive on leg #2. We are here at Cascada las Animas, a lodge with all manner of outdoor activities, a spa, a pool and a beach. We will have dinner as a group later and rooms will be assigned then. As the winners of this leg you will have upgraded accommodations and that is all I am saying about that now," Jen winked.

"From a bus seat to an upgraded accommodation, look at that baby, we are moving up in the world," Chuck grinned.

TBC….


	4. Iquique P3

Notes: Thanks so much for the continued support, this chapter has no race challenges in it, but I suspect you will forgive me for that….

Iquique P3

"What do you want to do?" Chuck asked the group.

"Pool!" Sarah and Erica declared simultaneously.

"I'm up for a swim," Josh agreed and Chuck nodded his consent.

"Just walk up that path and over the hill, there are changing rooms and towels," a World Challenge guy instructed.

Chuck was in the lead and it was his awed "Wow" that got Sarah's attention. The women caught up to the guys up front and took in the gorgeous pool area, a huge turquoise oval with a hundred chaise lounges set up around it.

"Well, this will do," Erica laughed.

The 4 of them split up and the women entered the ladies' bathhouse and the guys went the other way. There were big airy changing rooms with mirrors and chairs, showers, toilets and sinks and a ceiling fan keeping everything cool. Sarah dug through her bag and found a blue bikini and tee shirt that would work as a cover up. She practically skipped to the shower.

"I've never been so happy to see a tiny stall shower," Erica exclaimed as she tied her hair up.

"Yes, the wet paper towel bath at the bus stop breakfast spot was barely human," Sarah concurred and started the water in her stall.

When the ladies emerged, the guys had already arranged 4 chairs together and there were big plastic cups of water on the tables. Sarah drank thirstily and smiled her thanks to Chuck.

"I want to get in that pool while we have it all to ourselves," Erica approached and dipped a toe in, "oh it is heaven."

"I'm game," Sarah stripped off her tee shirt revealing the blue bikini to Chuck, who gave her the appropriate level of staring.

"That's nice," he said faux casually.

"Oh, I used to look like that, before four kids," Erica lamented as she stripped off her own tee covering her simple sporty one piece suit.

"You look great, 4 kids or not," Sarah promised and headed for the side of the pool, before anyone else could say anything Sarah dove in, her limbs gleamed white against the blue pool and her blue suit, her long hair flowing out behind her like…

"She looks like a mermaid," Chuck muttered and Josh and Erica laughed.

Sara emerged in the middle of the pool, flipped on to her back and looked up.

"Am I swimming alone?"

Minutes later all four were floating around in the huge pool, relaxed and quiet. No one else joined them for a while, the other teams seeming to opt for another of the resort's amenities. The next team to arrive was Molly and Mandy in their teeny tiny bikinis.

"Oh look, Chuck's here," Mandy called and waved.

"Hey Molly," he called back and Sarah wondered if he truly couldn't tell them apart or if he was teasing Sarah for her jealousy.

Mandy frowned for a second but then jumped in the pool and swam right towards Chuck.

The evening moved towards darkness and Jen emerged from the copse of palm trees to gather them all together. Sarah had long since slipped on shorts and a tee shirt over her bikini and Chuck's hair had dried in crazy curls.

"OK, folks, first things first, we had our first elimination tonight, Angela & Tom were the last team to complete the Roadblock and have been sent home," murmurs of disappointment and relief went through the crowd, "Dinner is set up around the corner," she pointed to a pavilion roof that peeked between the trees. "Your rooms tonight will be in the main bunk house, 2 teams per room – they are pretty spacious. Chuck & Sarah and Erica & Josh as the winners of this leg, will have private cabins and that is a great prize as we are here for 2 nights."

Murmurings from the crowd about the extended stay.

"Due to weather in our next location we have to stay here an extra night, the resort was very happy to accommodate us. You will have all day tomorrow to explore and each team can choose from a Ziplining Tour or a White Water Rafting Tour with the guides, in addition the spa will be available at your own expense. All your meals are inclusive while you are here and after dinner tonight they are at your own pace. You will be departing the day after tomorrow as a group at 9:00 am. I will be around if you have any questions."

"Thank you for sharing first place with us," Chuck reiterated to Josh and Erica.

"You deserved it. How did you figure that cart out so quickly?" Josh asked.

"I played a lot of Tetris as a kid," Chuck smirked.

As the group moved towards dinner, Sarah hung back and folded her towel on the back of her pool chair, Chuck waited for her.

"Dinner?" he said with the look of a hungry puppy.

Sarah just cocked her head to encourage him closer and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Did you use the Intersect on that challenge?"

Chuck turned his head so he could reply just as intimately, "nope."

Sarah could see Mandy watching them and to diffuse any rumors that they were whispering conspiratorially she leaned in and kissed Chuck. Chuck responded to the kiss quickly, hungrily as his lips moved over hers with purpose. Sarah threaded her fingers into his messy curls and held him even closer. By the time they broke apart Mandy was long gone and Sarah needed a second to catch her breath.

Dinner was another sumptuous buffet and Chuck and Sarah made their plates and joined Erica, Josh, Kelly and Monica at a round table. Doug walked by from the buffet to his table and stopped.

"So, private cabins for two of our couples, lucky lucky," he nudged Chuck on the shoulder, but luckily Chuck had a mouth full of food and he just smiled.

"Well, I for one am too tired to roll over tonight, but tomorrow…." Erica teased.

Sarah just smiled and nodded and kept eating and thinking about kissing Chuck and how really good it is.

Dinner went late, music came from somewhere and more dancing and another impromptu dip in the pool and teams were not heading to their rooms until after midnight. The private cabins were private and Josh and Erica headed up a different path with their staffer, wishing Chuck and Sarah a good night.

"I like them," Chuck said as they strolled along to their cabin.

"Me too," Sarah agreed.

She wanted to hold his hand, she didn't need to, but she wanted to so she reached out and as she took it he looked over at her. Sarah had flip flops on so she was shorter than Chuck by a good bit so he tilted his head down to see her eyes, there was no spy craft in them, just a girl waning to hold a guy's hand. He laced his fingers through hers and smiled.

"Here you are," the staffer swiped a key card to the main cabin entrance.

"Lovely," Sarah said of the large log cabin.

It was just one big open room with a fire place and couch on one side, a small kitchenette in the corner and a very large King sized bed by a wall of windows that Sarah hoped revealed some stunning view in the morning.

"Washroom through there," the man pointed to a closed door, "and a small deck on the other side. Don't confuse them," he winked.

"As part of your stay you can eat in any of the 3 on-resort restaurants or order cabin service," he indicated a small desk with a phone, "enjoy your stay."

"Thanks," Chuck shook his hand and accepted the keys.

Sarah dropped her pack on the couch and tugged off the surveillance scanner, she moved through the whole room, bathroom and even out on the deck.

"Clear," she said with a smile.

"So, they don't seem to be listening in on private time," Chuck said.

"Not yet, we should be vigilante though; as teams get eliminated they may be more curious about the remaining people," Sarah stripped off her tee shirt, "mind if I shower first again?"

"No, go ahead."

Sarah grabbed her stuff from her pack and was halfway to the bathroom.

"Hey, Sarah wait…"

"You need the bathroom first?" she turned.

"No, not that. When you kissed me earlier…?"

"Mandy was watching when I asked about the Intersect. I didn't want her to think we were whispering about anything secret."

"Oh," Chuck deflated a little.

"That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it," she smiled shyly and turned back to the bathroom.

By the time Chuck showered it was nearly 2:00 am.

"Long day," Sarah yawned.

"It was, tomorrow should be relaxing though. What do you want to do?" Chuck asked as he climbed in to the big bed, he didn't offer to sleep on the floor the bed was huge.

"Would you want to do the white water rafting?" she asked with trepidation.

"Sure, I'm good on water," he grinned.

"I've never done it before and I think it would be fun."

"Well that settles it, the list of things Sarah Walker has never done must be pretty short, we are definitely rafting!"

"Thanks Chuck."

"Goodnight, Sarah." Chuck turned the light off and the room was bathed in a silvery light from the moon through the giant window.

***555***

The morning flew by as Chuck and Sarah slept in and dressed quickly to catch breakfast and there was no sign of the other teams around.

"Do you think we're the last or are people just sleeping in?" Chuck asked as he sipped coffee.

"Little of both I'd guess."

Chuck nodded and ate quietly for a minute, observing the room and judging it free of World Challenge players or staff.

"Sarah, would you like to go on a date with me?"

"Like a real date? Haven't we already had a conversation?"

"Yes, but I've heard that the 3rd time is the charm. Would you like to go on our 3rd first date? Tonight?"

"Chuck, we're working," Sarah said with less conviction than normal.

"Of course, we are and we always are and if anything comes up – like it did on our first 2 first dates – then we will deal with that, but we have this extra night here and everyone is staying on resort and we have that lovely cabin. I would like to have some quality time with you, to talk about everything."

"OK," Sarah said simply.

"OK?"

"OK."

"Great, so our first white water rafting adventure today and tonight our third first date."

"So is it our 3rd date or our 1st date, because those have very different connotations," she flashed her eyes at him.

Chuck smiled at her.

"I think it is fair to say we have not had any sort of normal milestones as a couple and if you want that I stand by my earlier statement that we go at your pace, this can be a real first date."

"Let's go check out the white water rafting," Sarah stood from the table and held her hand out for Chuck.

***555***

The pair followed signs through the lush resort and could hear the water before they saw it, as they approached the platform they saw a few other World Challenge teams, Mandy & Molly, Alan & Zeke and Kevin & Lucy.

"They're with us," Zeke told the guide who had just started his spiel.

"Welcome!" the young man waved.

"Hi!" Chuck waved to everyone.

The guide went through some rules and safety instructions, a simple lesson and then paired the teams up based on weight balance and experience level. Sarah & Chuck were paired with Kevin & Lucy, which wasn't ideal, but Sarah enjoyed the slight pout on Mandy's face when she heard she wasn't getting in the boat with Chuck.

Their guide was a young woman named Louisa who was small but strong as she pulled the boat over to get everyone boarded. They started out in a calm section of the river with a gorgeous canopy of trees, Louisa explained in very good English about the river and the local wildlife, some of which Chuck could have lived without knowing. They could see the other boat slightly ahead, everyone listening and bobbing along the river.

The current picked up soon and the river dropped over some small rocky falls. Louisa's instructions were good and the 4 people in the boat worked well together to keep them upright. The sun was warm and the spray off the water was fantastic.

Sarah noticed that Kevin & Lucy did in fact work well together and they didn't bicker at all with a task at hand.

Chuck was behind Sarah and after one particularly invigorating set of rapids Sarah turned back to check on him and their matching smiles were brilliant, as they came to a calm stretch Chuck leaned forward to talk to her, but she turned at same time, so they were lips-to-lips. Chuck pressed his lips to hers fast and smiled again.

"Having fun?" he asked and she nodded enthusiastically.

When they finished their tour, Kevin & Lucy were ready for a nap, but Sarah was read for a workout.

"Gym?" she asked Chuck.

"Sure," he agreed, while the challenge had been tiring it was more the travel that was rough, so far there wasn't much physical exertion.

They went back to the room and changed and found the spa and fitness center easily. As they entered they saw Erica running on a treadmill, she spotted them in the mirror and threw up a hand in greeting, but kept going.

Both Chuck and Sarah stretched for a bit before Chuck moved to the weight side of the room and Sarah began some planks and crunches. Sarah could see how much weight Chuck was lifting and it was impressive, but not super human – it was him not the Intersect lifting those weights.

She kept an eye on him as they headed to two treadmills. Both began at a jog, but when Sarah upped her speed Chuck followed suit and kept pace with her. She could see him in the mirror and he was holding his own, but his endurance wasn't quite as good as hers and after about 3 miles he slowed down.

"I'm going to do 5," she pointed to the distance.

"Show off," he teased and slowed to a walk before hopping off and wiping down the machine.

Chuck busied himself with a couple of different weight machines while Sarah finished up. She approached him wiping the sweat from the back of her neck.

"Pool?"

"Sure," he smiled.

The pool was more crowded than the day before and a bunch of World Challenge folks were gathered sharing stories of their adventures Ziplining or white water rafting. Chuck and Sarah joined in and soon lunch and cocktails were ordered.

The group ate and swam and had an enjoyable time. Sarah tried to assess each member of the group, weigh the odds of them being the Ring recruiter, but no one showed their hand if they were. Late afternoon Chuck excused himself, Sarah watched as he headed towards the bathhouse, but he was gone for quite some time, he came back with a grin on his face.

"Dinner is all set for 7:00," he said as he sat beside her on the lounge chair.

Sarah turned to give him room, leaning back slightly against him. Chuck was not big on PDA, but he knew any man truly dating Sarah Walker would be enjoying the vast quantity of skin her bikini revealed, he reached out and put a hand on her hip, his fingers skittered over her stomach. He felt the muscles ripple and retract, unsure if she was ticklish or bothered by his touch he moved to pull his hand back, but hers reached out and laid atop his, pressing it against her skin further.

Sarah turned her head and smiled at him, he smiled back unsure if this was a cover thing or not. He snuggled tight against her then and nuzzled his nose against her hair, closed his eyes.

Sarah thought about what she could wear for dinner, there was one very casual sundress in her pack and a pair of cute flip flops, it would have to do. She had very little make-up and no hair care products, so this first date was going to be a little different than the other 2.

She knew she didn't need to dress for Chuck, he had repeatedly told her she would look beautiful in a potato sack, but dressing up isn't always for the guy.

As if reading her mind, Chuck spoke a few minutes later, "I'm going to head up and take a shower."

"OK, I'll be up in half an hour or so," she kissed him gently.

Chuck bid farewell to the others and Sarah moved back to the center of her chair and sipped her cocktail.

"You two are really cute together," Kelly sat in the empty chair next to Sarah with a Diet Coke in her hand, it appeared she and Monica did not drink.

"Thanks," Sarah smiled.

"Are you considering marriage?"

"Hm?" Sarah nearly choked on her daiquiri.

"Don't get me wrong, you guys seem great, but I truly believe in marriage before well, you know."

Sarah wanted to laugh, this woman assumed she and Chuck were having sex, of course she did – his whole family assumed they were having sex, hell even Casey probably assumed they were having sex, but they had not actually had sex yet.

"I like to think that Chuck and I will get married one day," Sarah said with a wistful look on her face, it wasn't a cover lie.

***555***

When Sarah got back to the cabin Chuck was still in the bathroom so she grabbed her book and went out on the deck, they had a magnificent view of the forest where the Ziplining trails were and the birdsong and clean air was magnificent. She read about 10 words and then just stared off into the woods until Chuck came out and disrupted her reverie.

"Bathroom is all yours," he said.

"You look nice," Sarah smiled as she unfolded from the deck chair and looked him up and down.

Like her, Chuck didn't have much in the way of dress clothes with him, but he had nice clean khaki shorts that looked like he ironed them and a navy blue polo shirt on, his feet were in flip flops and his face was freshly shaved. As she walked by she could smell soap and Chuck mingled together and she liked it.

"I won't be too long," she promised.

"Food's here in 45 minutes, take your time."

Sarah showered and washed her hair, shaved her legs and lotioned herself from top to bottom, this was their last night at the resort, god knows where she would be showering and sleeping tomorrow. There was a weak hair dryer and she had no round brush so she opted to let her hair air dry in beachy curls.

She slipped the sun dress on and it fell around her in soft pink waves, brushing the tops of her knees. She had gotten some sun the past couple days and her cheeks and the ridge of her nose were pink, a little lip gloss was all she had to add to the look.

Sarah looked in the mirror and saw Sarah, not Agent Walker, but herself – the woman. She didn't see her very often, she almost looked like a stranger.

When she opened the bathroom door Chuck was out on the deck still, his back to her, and she saw on the table in the living room an arrangement of flowers that were there when they checked in, she plucked a pink hibiscus flower from the arrangement and tucked it behind her ear.

When she slid open the door to the deck Chuck turned around, the sun was golden behind him and he looked so lovely surrounded by it.

"Sarah," it was so soft, so tender, his voice made her shiver.

"It's the best I could do with what I had," she held out her arms and shrugged.

"You look so beautiful," he was looking at her face, at her nearly make-up free face, at the real her and she felt it, that feeling people talk about so very much in books and movies.

"Thank you," she couldn't articulate the feeling just yet.

"Wine?" Chuck offered and Sarah noticed the open bottle and 2 glasses on the table that was not there before.

"Please."

"I grabbed it from the bar on my way up, it's a local red," he poured her a glass and picked up his own.

"To 3rd first dates," he clinked her glass and they both sipped the wine.

Chuck had pulled the chairs over to the railing of the porch, the sun changing color as it began to set.

"It's really gorgeous here," Sarah surmised as she sat.

"It may be hard for you to believe, but I was never much of an outdoorsman…" Chuck began and Sarah snorted wine through her nose.

"I always liked the outdoors," Sarah said, "when I was little, outdoors meant being where my parents didn't fight. I would climb trees and pretend I lived with monkeys."

Chuck was afraid to comment, it was the first time she had really talked about her childhood, aside from the glimpses he got when Jack Burton showed up in town last year.

"When I was with my dad it was motel room after motel room, always on the highway so we could get away fast. Then when I trained at the farm there was so much space, woods and open fields. Were you there? Camp Peary?"

"No," Chuck shook his head, "too many people. I was at a black site facility in Europe."

Sarah nodded, it made sense, they needed to focus on him and the Intersect.

"What happened after they took you away?" she remembered him leaving with 4 CIA officers in a big black van.

"I went to an undisclosed CIA hospital for some medical tests, when I passed those I was on a plane to Europe. Since I am so confidential I had a small team of trainers and analysts, some knew and some didn't what they were dealing with. I had some normal training and then a lot of training around what this new intersect can do."

"What can it do? I saw the kung fu, Chuck, and it was amazing to watch, but scary, you know?"

"Oh, I know. It does whatever I need it to do. I can fight in any imaginable style, I can perfectly aim any weapon, I can speak foreign languages, play instruments, dance, do gymnastics. My body reacts to what my mind sees."

"What triggers it?"

"That's the hard part, sometimes it is like the old one, an image or a voice can trigger something, but the skills seem to trigger when I need them. Clearly it knows when I am truly in need though as I haven't flashed on languages here, I could probably force it, but it isn't instantaneous."

"Beckman said you had some setbacks."

"I was lonely, I missed Ellie and Morgan and you and it seemed when my emotions are in control the Intersect doesn't always respond. It is designed for a super soldier like Bryce, not some emo nerd like me," Chuck shrugged.

"Does it hurt? It looked like you were in pain after the kung fu."

"My body hurt at first until I did some actual conditioning training. Sometimes I get headaches with this intersect, worse than the other one. I had some nightmares and the headaches got bad for a bit, the scientists created this," he held out his wrist, "they call it a Governor, apparently my dad left plans for it, and it regulates my body."

Sarah took it all in quietly.

"I'm sorry," she finally said after a few moments.

"For what?"

"That this is your life, you don't deserve this."

"I felt that way for a long time, but it almost seems like fate, that my dad invented this thing and somehow it wound up inside me. I think I am supposed to do this, I've come to terms with that."

"You are extraordinary, Chuck Bartowski," Sarah smiled over her wine and before he could reply there was the sound of a doorbell.

"That must be dinner."

It was still warm outside so the resort staffer set up dinner on the deck. He brought candles just as Chuck had requested and he left with a smile.

"I hope you like what I picked. I got two things so you can have whichever one you prefer," he uncovered 2 dishes with beautiful vegetables and rice, one with fish and the other with chicken.

"I'll have the fish," she smiled and moved their chairs back to the table.

"So, you know a little bit about me, what have you been up to for 3 months?"

"Missions, trying to find Ring operatives with Casey and keeping your cover with Ellie and Morgan."

"Ellie's enjoying married life I hope. We emailed a bit and she seemed really happy," Chuck smiled fondly thinking of his sister.

"They seem really good. I actually went rock climbing with Awesome a few weeks ago."

"Really?"

"He was supposed to go with another surgeon from the hospital, but the guy was called up to UC Santa Barbara for some emergency, I had just stopped by to say hello when he called. Devon asked if I liked rock climbing and so I went," Sarah shrugged.

"I'm glad," Chuck smiled, he knew Sarah truly cared about Ellie and Awesome.

"Morgan is back at the Buy More," Sarah reported.

"I heard, I hate that his Benihana dreams died so quickly," Chuck sighed as he took another bite of dinner.

"He's doing OK, I feel like he's turned a corner maybe, he seems completely fed up with Jeff and Lester every time I see him."

"Maybe the broken dreams will help him grow up a little," Chuck smiled fondly thinking of his friend.

"Remember our first date?" Sarah asked as she sipped her wine.

"Our first first date?" Chuck teased.

"That one."

"Vividly."

"My mission had gone off the rails at that point, your computer was toast and I had no idea if you had a back-up, no idea where the information I was looking for was. I had been recalled and I told Graham I could find out if you had the information, I could get that from you and if I didn't do you know what my assignment was?"

"Bring me in?"

"Kill you," she whispered.

"Oh," Chuck's face fell.

"I was never going to kill you, Chuck. I knew at our first meet that you weren't some evil mastermind, but before that date I would have brought you in and let them throw you in an interrogation room and have at you. Do you know why I didn't? Why I couldn't? Why I was willing to shoot my way out with Casey that night and Longshore a year later and why I ran with you to Barstow?"

"Because you…. like me?" he smiled.

"I do like you," she smiled back, "but more specifically it was your relationships with Ellie and Morgan. When you told me about the two of them at the Mexican restaurant that first time, I knew you were different than the people I knew, the ones I worked with and against. You so clearly loved and cared for them, not just in a cursory way, but you were invested in their lives, the minutiae of their day to day and that was so foreign to me. You were like this rare tropical bird that I had never seen up close."

Chuck didn't say anything, he just blushed and ducked his head and accepted the compliment.

"What's next for you?" Sarah asked cautiously.

"Depends on this, what we uncover here. I did negotiate a visit home at least at the very end to see Ellie and then either we are back as a team or I go back to training."

"Ellie will be so glad to see you. Speaking of, we should take a selfie and email it to her while we have wi-fi here, let her know we've seen each other. It will make her happy and a happy Ellie doesn't ask questions."

"Definitely, but we should do it inside, this scenery does not look anything like Houston."

They finished eating as the stars started dotting the sky. Chuck reached across the table and had Sarah's hand in his, his thumb rubbing over the soft skin at her wrist.

"There's a little wine left, want to go sit by the fire?" Sarah suggested.

"Sure," Chuck stood, her hand still in his and he leaned down to kiss it.

They collected their dishes and the wine and brought everything inside. Chuck turned on the gas fireplace which came to life very easily while Sarah arranged their wine and grabbed Chuck's phone.

"Picture first."

They sat on the couch and Chuck curled one arm around Sarah's shoulders and used his other to hold the camera out and snap the pic, he showed it to her.

"Cute," she said absently as she looked at the two of them, how they had changed in 2 years. Chuck looked so much more mature and without her spy mask, Sarah looked so young.

Chuck composed a text to Ellie about how happy he was to see Sarah, that they both loved and missed her and he hoped to be home in a few weeks. It was 2 hours earlier in California and within minutes of sending it he got a reply.

"You guys look so good, miss you both, take care of each other. Devon says "hey"! Love, Ellie"

Chuck looked at the text for a minute and Sarah saw it again, his affection for other people, the thing she noticed on the first first date.

"Chuck, this isn't our first date. I may not know all you've been through the past few months and you don't really know me at all on paper, but you told me once that you don't need to know that because you know me," her voice was soft and rushed.

"I do," Chuck nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Make love to me," she looked in his eyes as she said it and if she expected to see surprise there was none, just incredible heat and unmistakable affection.

His hand was still on the side of her head and he pulled her close and kissed her thoroughly, pressed her back towards the arm of the couch and she complied, pulling her legs up to stretch under him, accepting his weight happily on top of her.

Sarah had no idea how long they just kissed, pouring out all those things they couldn't say to each other in the most soul rendering kisses of her entire existence, but finally she couldn't stand all the clothes between us.

"Bed, please," she uttered between delicate bites of Chuck's swollen lower lip.

"Yeah, yeah," he nodded, gathering air back in to his body.

He stood then and reached down to help her up and when she was standing they were kissing again, but moving at the same time, Sarah kicking off her sandals and undoing Chuck's shorts at the same time. When they got to the side of the bed Chuck managed to take off his shirt and pull down the covers simultaneously which made Sarah laugh.

When she reached for the hem of her sundress, Chuck stopped her, she looked up confused.

"Can I?" he pushed her hands aside and slid his own hands down her sides and back along her bottom, he gathered the material in his fingers there and gently pulled it up.

Sarah raised her arms up to allow Chuck to fully remove the dress, her hair fluttering back down around her bare shoulders.

"You're so pretty, Sarah," he said tenderly as he leaned down and kissed her neck right where it turned towards her shoulder.

"I own much nicer underwear than this," she babbled nervously as Chuck continued to kiss toward the strap of the very plain white bra she had on.

"I can't wait to see it someday, but this is perfect, this is you – really you, Sarah and it is the most beautiful vision of my whole life," as she contemplated the fact that those words from any other man would sound rehearsed and fake, Chuck removed her bra with ease.

Chuck wasn't fake, even this Chuck who had now been trained by the agency to be the best spy in the world, was still Chuck.

Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed their bare chests together, the evidence of how very ready he was for this pressing urgently against her hip.

"Now," she whispered in his ear.

"God, yes," he agreed and as she separated from him to crawl in to the middle of the huge bed Chuck stayed standing.

"What?" she leaned up on her elbows.

"Do we need?" he pointed towards the bathroom.

"Have you had sex with anyone in the past three months?" she asked.

"No," he shook his head as if the idea was absurd.

"I haven't had sex with anyone in a very long time, so I am sure the CIA has tested us for everything under the planet since then. We're good," she promised.

"So good," he agreed and pulled off his boxers before joining her on the bed.

"This is finally happening, for real," Sarah sighed as she tilted her head back and let Chuck kiss along her collar bone.

"Finally," Chuck sighed as he pulled her closer.

TBC…


	5. Lisbon P1

Notes: New destination alert!

Lisbon P1

Sarah woke up first, or at least she thought she did, Chuck's breathing felt slow and regular under her cheek. She risked moving to tilt her head up from the place it was resting on his bare chest and saw his eyes were closed and his brow smooth.

They got a few hours sleep, maybe 3, but most of the night was spent wrapped around each other in delicious tangles of limbs and sighs. Making love to Chuck Bartowski was as enlightening as getting to know him, he constantly surprised her with a new layer.

Sarah snuggled against him, warm skin to warm skin, and looked past him to the clock on the bedside table. It was only 6:00, the last time she had seen the clock it was close to 3:00, but she wasn't tired, she felt this amazing amount of energy coursing through her veins.

She played with the smattering of chest hair on Chuck's body and knew the second he transitioned from sleep to not.

"Again?" he cracked one eye open and she looked up at him with a smirk.

"You sound like you are complaining."

"Never," he rolled her underneath him easily and looked down at her with such glee.

"It was good, right?" Sarah wasn't the best judge of quality sex.

"If you have to ask then perhaps I should refresh your memory," he said each of those words between big wet kisses that trailed from her neck down her body until….

"Oh God," Sarah pressed her hands flat against the mattress on either side of her body and Chuck noticed as she curled her fingers and clutched at the sheets.

Finally, at 8:00 am Sarah nudged Chuck again, he wasn't asleep but lolling leisurely beside her.

"We have to leave at 9:00. Shower?"

"Is that a question or an invitation?" he asked as Sarah crawled out of their comfortable little haven and stood beside the bed fully bare with the morning sunlight painting her in gold and shadow.

"The latter," she tilted her head towards the bathroom and he was quickly right behind her.

The shower was more utilitarian than recreational and while he was rinsing off Chuck spoke.

"Can we agree on one thing before today gets away from us?"

"Sure," Sarah said as she soaped up a face cloth.

"Our cover isn't a cover any more. I understand that there will be times we need to appear to be being romantic to cover some spy stuff, but no more questioning it. If I want to kiss you, I am going to kiss you and I hope that is mutual. I don't want to be wondering if it is OK."

"Chuck? Are you asking me to be your real girlfriend?" Sarah asked with a grin.

"Are you? Are we? We just…" he pointed at the bed through the open bathroom door.

"Yes, Chuck, yes. I am, we are, we did….that…a lot," she blushed, Sarah Walker actually blushed.

"So, the cover relationship?"

"Is a real relationship," Sarah nodded and then kissed him, because she could.

***555***

Chuck and Sarah barely got to breakfast in time to shove some food in their mouths, no one seemed to notice or care that they were so close to late. Jen appeared at 8:50 with the announcements.

"For our next leg, it is an even playing field, you are all on the same flights. You will get your clues on the bus enroute to the airport and once you arrive in destination everyone will be starting the next challenge together. Good luck!"

Chuck grabbed a muffin for the bus ride to the airport and Sarah took two bananas.

"You need to replenish your body with actual nutrients, not carbs," she whispered in his ear and felt the heat of his blush against her lips.

Chuck took the banana and the muffin in one hand and Sarah's hand in the other. As they got on the bus, Javier handed Sarah a clue, she could already hear the other teams chatting about Lisbon.

"I love Lisbon," Sarah sad as they took seats and she opened the clue, "ooof, 13-hour flight to Madrid."

"That's not bad, we can make up for all the sleep we didn't get last night," Chuck mentioned casually and then felt bad when Jake turned around from the seat in front of them and gave them a thumbs up.

"Private cabin paid off, huh?" he winked exaggeratedly at Chuck.

"Multiple times," Sarah said without looking up from the clue she was reading.

The airport was an hour away and once there they had 2 hours until their 13-hour flight. Sarah found an abandoned gate area and reorganized her pack.

"It'll be colder in Lisbon, shift your clothes around," she suggested and Chuck followed suit.

"Keep a hoodie out to sleep in, you were cold on the plane last time," he mentioned as he found one of his own, "not that I don't mind keeping you warm."

Sarah found the cornflower blue cashmere hoodie that she intended to keep when this mission was over and tied it around her waist. She was on the floor leaning back against a chair with her legs out-stretched and Chuck was mirroring her, their legs were touching and it seemed so normal and so natural. She had touched every part of his body last night and everything felt so right.

She had been frustrated in Barstow and the following night when Honey Woodcomb insisted all the bridesmaids and Ellie stay together at the hotel and the following night when Chuck downloaded the 2.0 instead of finishing his dance with her and taking her inside to his apartment where they could finally be alone. She wouldn't trade any of it for last night though, the time and freedom they had to get to know each other intimately was perfect and she couldn't wait until they were alone again.

"Something wrong?" Chuck said and Sarah realized she was daydreaming.

"I was thinking about Barstow and how much better last night was," she said honestly.

Chuck just nodded in understanding. With their packs rearranged and some provisions for the long flight purchased they waited at their gate with the other teams to board the flight. The large aircraft had 3 seats on each side and 4 in the middle, Chuck and Sarah were in a 4 seater with Josh & Erica, an aisle on each end made it comfortable for the guys and Sarah & Erica got to chat in the middle.

"You look happy," Erica mentioned.

"We had a nice night, stayed in and recharged," Sarah shrugged.

"Us too," Erica smiled and Sarah realized this was girl talk.

"Chuck had been away for work for a while before the race, it was good to catch up," Sarah said honestly.

"You two are very cute together, have you been together long?" Erica offered Sarah some trail mix.

"Two years officially, but we were so young when we met, not really focused on each other. I feel like things are changing for us," she popped a handful of trail mix in her mouth and smiled.

The 13-hour flight was long and Chuck and Sarah watched a movie, had dinner and when the cabin lights were dimmed they were more than ready to sleep. While they had shared each other's space and warmth on a plane and a bus on this trip so far, tonight was different. Sarah didn't hesitate to mold her body to Chuck's completely and Chuck's hands felt certain as he held her tightly.

They changed planes in Madrid and arrived in Lisbon around 10:00 am local time. Their clue took them to Martim Moniz Square where they had to take the #28 Tram to the end of the line and go to the roof of the building there at the tram stop.

Chuck and Sarah were near the back of the plane so got into one of the last cabs, Sarah didn't like playing catch up, but Chuck assured her they would make up time on one of the challenges. When they got to the Tram stop there were teams still there, apparently only a couple teams caught the first tram to the top.

The tram ride was fun and Chuck kept twisting and turning to see the scenery as they went, his hand held tight to Sarah's and she kept looking away from the view to his face.

"Is he always this excited about things?" Lucy asked with a grin.

"Yep," Sarah nodded.

They got to the top and rode the elevator with Kevin & Lucy and Kelly & Monica. Sarah knew she had to be glowing still from all the sex and wondered if Kelly was still judging her for her premarital situation. When they got to the top floor there was a beautiful woman in a classical Portuguese costume to greet them and next to her was a painting on an easel.

"The painting has to be the clue," Kevin said unnecessarily.

A World Challenge employee handed them a postcard with the painting on it, it was a building with an old-fashioned coach in front of it.

"Is it a palace?" Chuck looked all over the post card for any sort of writing.

"Maybe," Sarah said as they headed back down to the street.

Chuck snapped a picture of it with his phone and by the time they reached the lobby he knew it was the National Coach Museum, he pocketed the postcard and they rode the Tram back to the square and got a taxi to the museum.

There were a few teams in the museum and some, like Erica and Josh seemed to have already moved on.

"We have to make up time," Sarah reminded him.

"I know," Chuck said as he took in the opulent carriages and coaches in the museum.

"What are we even looking for?" Sarah stood still and turned a full 360 to take in the dozens of coaches in the room.

"I don't actually know," Chuck frowned and pulled the card out again, "maybe this is more of a clue than just the location, maybe this…." He pointed to the postcard.

"….coach is where the next clue is," Sarah smiled broadly at him.

They found the coach and sure enough the door was open and inside was a World Challenge clue box.

"Detour," Sarah informed, "Tiles or Miles. Giant jigsaw puzzle of blue and white china or calculate distance using a giant navigational tool out in the square?"

"I'm pretty good at math," Chuck shrugged.

"I'd rather be outside," Sarah agreed with him and they headed out to take on the Miles challenge.

"This is harder than it looks," Jake lamented as Chuck and Sarah arrived in the gorgeous square.

On the ground was a mosaic map of the world with a legend listing all of Magellan's voyages and a key to calculate the nautical miles based on the feet between points, they had to take the navigational tool, which was as tall as Chuck and put one point on the origin location and the other point on the destination and measure the vector between them and do the math without their phones, a World Challenge rep was there to make sure.

"It's hard to hold the thing up and measure at the same time," Doug pointed out.

"How about we team up?" Chuck suggested and the guys perked up.

"Can we?" Jake asked the World Challenge guy.

"Sure, only rule on this one is no electronic devices, you can work together."

"OK, how do we do this?" Sarah asked.

"Who's the mathematician?" Jake asked and Chuck raised his hand.

"OK, we'll hold up the compass and move the feet, Sarah is probably the most limber of us all, she can crawl along and measure and Chuck does the math?" Doug proposed.

"Sounds good," Sarah looked at Chuck who nodded in agreement.

Sarah read of the first two destinations and the guys moved the legs of the compass accordingly, then Sarah used the measuring device to go from one point to the next giving Chuck the measurement. They worked through the 4 voyages this way and at the end the 3 of them waited while Chuck did the math, they had to be within 100 miles.

"16,772," Chuck said to the World Challenge guy who waited a suspenseful enough amount of time before handing over their clues.

"Nice work, Chuck," Jake slapped him on the back.

"You guys did the heavy lifting, I just crunched the numbers," Chuck laughed as the 4 headed off to their next location.

A cab dropped Chuck and Sarah off at the edge of a large field.

"This is it?" Chuck asked dubiously.

"Yeah," the cab driver nodded enthusiastically.

"I think I see people," Sarah stood up on her toes.

"OK, can you wait for us?" Chuck paid the driver plus a little holding bonus.

"Sure, sure," he agreed happily and watched as Chuck and Sarah jogged on to the field.

After a bit of a jog Chuck reached the clue box and ripped open the envelope.

"Roadblock - Who is better at slings and arrows?" he read with a smirk.

"I'll take that one," Sarah winked as she plucked the card from his hand.

"Don't show off," he murmured quietly.

"I got this," Sarah smiled.

What Sarah didn't know was that her weapons challenge was very old fashioned indeed and involved being dressed in a full set of chain mail and armor. World Challenge crew helped Sarah put on the heavy suit and she moved rigidly to her weapon, an equally medieval wooden mounted crossbow.

"You have to hit 3 of those shields," the World Challenge staffer explained as Sarah looked out at a set of 12 crests on a large pile of hay bales.

There were 2 other teams: Erica & Josh and Monica & Kelly there already and Sarah knew Jake & Doug were close behind. She had lost track completely of Kevin & Lucy and Alan & Zeke and the other 2 teams she didn't know that well that had stuck to themselves.

Sarah intentionally missed on her first try, calibrating the weapon was tricky and she knew someone with no real weapons training wouldn't be able to do it right off the bat.

"Oh gosh, that's hard," Sarah lamented.

"You can do it, sweetie!" Chuck encouraged from the sideline where the other team members were waiting.

"That thing looks heavy," Monica fretted as Kelly tried to aim it.

Chuck watched Sarah fuss with the giant wooden weapon, he knew she was putting on a bit of a show.

"I wish I had taken this one, but I did the last one," Chuck added for cover.

Sarah's second arrow hit a shield nearly dead center.

"Woo hoo!" Chuck cheered.

"Great job, Sarah!" Erica added from the sidelines.

"Hey!" Josh teased.

"You're doing great too, honey," Erica laughed.

Sarah missed a couple more times for good measure and then hit 2 in a row. Josh finished as well and Monica still had one target to hit as Sarah began removing the armor as she walked back. Chuck was allowed to help her get all the costuming off and they were soon running back to the cab with a clue in hand.

The clue was just a picture and Sarah showed it to the cab driver.

"I know," he smiled and nodded.

Chuck and Sarah climbed into the back seat and they were off again.

"You were great," Chuck tucked a sweaty strand of hair behind her ear, a sweet smile on his face.

"Thanks, I'm all sweaty from that armor though, yuck," she lifted her ponytail off her hot neck.

Chuck couldn't resist, he leaned in and kissed her neck and felt her shiver a little.

"I thought you were hot?" he whispered against her warm skin.

She turned to face him and kissed him softly.

"I have water," Chuck said as he pulled out of the sweet kiss, he reached down and pulled the bottle he still had from lunch out of his pack.

"Thanks," Sarah drank it greedily.

"You alright?" he asked and she knew he was asking about more than her temperature.

A lot had happened the past couple days between them and the race didn't give them much private time to talk, but it did give Sarah plenty of quiet time to think and Chuck worried that might be a bad combination.

"I am wonderful," she promised him and meant it.

The cab ride took a while and Chuck and Sarah watched the scenery out the window as it flew by, their hands interlaced on Sarah's thigh, Chuck's thumb absentmindedly stroking against the soft cotton of her pants.

Finally, the cab began winding its way up a narrow road.

"Looks like a castle," Chuck said of the picture in his hand.

"Yep," Sarah nodded.

"Castles are cool," Chuck grinned.

"We didn't win this leg," Sarah picked at a piece of fuzz on her pants.

"We aren't last though, we live to race another day," Chuck shrugged.

"I know, I just don't like not being first."

"It'll keep us under the radar though," Chuck said vaguely.

"True," she understood the mission strategy he was alluding to.

"Now if the first-place team gets to sleep at the castle I might be more upset," he teased.

"Castles are cold and drafty."

"We could snuggle."

"You're cute," she smiled shyly.

"I know."

Sarah laughed and swatted his shoulder, but didn't resist when Chuck pulled her close and kissed her again.

"Here," the cab driver interrupted the kissing and Sarah ducked her head to hide her smile.

"Thanks, thank you…." Chuck stammered and paid the driver before grabbing both their bags.

"I can carry mine," Sarah said.

"You did the big challenge today, I got it," he hung one bag over each shoulder and was rewarded when Sarah wrapped her arm around his waist.

They sauntered through the castle grounds looking for Jen and finally found her and a guy dressed as a medieval knight.

"Welcome! Chuck and Sarah, you are the third team to arrive, you are still in the race, congratulations," Jen smiled.

"Third's not terrible," Chuck looked at Sarah.

"Not terrible," Sarah conceded.

"Not terrible at all. We are at the Castle dos Mouros, the Castle of the Moors, it is a medieval castle and super cool. You are free to roam around and enjoy the castle and the gorgeous views. We will be dining as a group here at 6:00 and then staying close by in a hotel for the night."

"Sounds great," Chuck smiled wide and Sarah squeezed him a bit as she considered another night in a hotel room.

"You can leave your bags over there," Jen indicated a roped off area with 4 bags – Kevin & Lucy and Alan & Zeke already having checked in.

"Perfect," Sarah waved and they headed off.

"I've never been in a medieval castle before," Chuck admitted as they moved in to a great open hall.

"Really?"

"There aren't many in Southern California."

"Touché."

"Disneyland doesn't really count," he chuckled.

"Well, let me be the first to welcome you to the Castle dos Mouros," Sarah said as she turned and leaned in to kiss him again.

"So much kissing," he murmured against her lips.

"I was so afraid we were going to all sleep here tonight, like a big Girl Scout sleep over," Sarah babbled between kissing.

"Mmmm, but instead we get a hotel room," Chuck hands were at her hips and he slid them to her backside.

"We should probably table this for then," Sarah protested weakly.

"Or we could find some medieval bed somewhere," Chuck looked all around comically.

Sarah laughed and pulled back to compose herself.

"This is your first castle Chuck, we should explore it, not each other."

"As long as we can do a little exploring later."

"At the hotel," Sarah promised with a squeeze of his hand before pulling him toward a staircase.

***555***

Dinner was traditional Portuguese food and Sarah inwardly beamed as it was one of her favorites, she made a big plate and curled her leg under her on a bench at one of the big tables where Erica and Josh were already seated.

"It's so good," Josh smiled as Sarah dug in.

"Where's Chuck?" Erica asked.

"Trying to figure out if he could juggle two plates of food," Sarah giggled as Chuck approached with one very full plate and 2 bottles of water.

"Thank you," Sarah said as she took one of the bottles.

"You abandoned me at the buffet and I noticed you took off without grabbing a drink."

"I was blinded by my love of Portuguese food," Sarah said as she slathered butter on a golden hunk of bread.

A server came around with local beer and wine and everyone was eating and drinking happily when Jen stood up on a bench.

"Good evening everyone, just a couple announcements: tonight we eliminated our second pair of racers, Judy and Mark were the last to complete the Roadblock and are on their way back home to Nebraska. Our first-place team, Kevin and Lucy will have upgraded seats on tomorrow's flight, that's right, our time in Portugal is short and tomorrow we head out on a new adventure. I will let you all wonder where tonight. Our hotel is just a few miles from here, so feel free to enjoy the food and drink a while longer," and with a hop off the bench she was done.

"I don't think I even met Judy and Mark," Chuck noted and Sarah shook her head in agreement.

"They were nice, I met them before we left, married couple from Nebraska. I didn't really see them much once we left California though," Erica said.

"And who are those two?" Sarah pointed discreetly at another couple she hadn't spoken to and she hoped they were a father and daughter and not a couple couple.

"That is Dan and his third wife, Cassie," Josh said with raised eyebrows.

Sarah let her disappointment show.

"I know," Erica agreed.

"More beer?" a server came by and all four accepted happily.

The food was all gone and Chuck wrapped one arm around Sarah's shoulders and pulled her close as he sipped his second beer. Sarah turned on the bench so her back was nestled against his side and the arm that he had wrapped around her hung down her front. She played with his long fingers.

While she enjoyed being in his arms, Sarah used this new position to look around the room, but as usual there was nothing unusual to see. Either the Ring recruiter was playing the long game or they weren't one of the other team members. Even the staff seemed engaged and invested in each other, no outliers. Sarah was both relieved and curious, she was relieved because the work part of this mission still seemed to be far off, but curious as to when it might kick in and how much time would she and Chuck have to enjoy each other before the CIA took precedence.

Tonight did not seem to be that night and as Sarah and Chuck got their hotel room key Sarah felt a flutter in her stomach, they had a whole night together and apparently, a flight in the morning they could sleep on.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Chuck asked as the elevator door closed and Sarah saw they were alone.

"I can't wait to be alone with you."

"We are alone right now," he pointed out with a smirk.

"You know what I mean."

"I do."

Sarah unclipped the butterfly from her pack as Chuck opened the hotel room door and she scanned the small tidy room and bathroom quickly.

"All good," she reported as she whipped her shirt off over her head.

"Excellent," Chuck locked the door and had his clothes off in seemingly record time.

They crashed in to each other at the foot of the bed.

"Hi," Sarah giggled as they tried to sort out all their limbs, she ran her foot up his calf, her knee teasing the last bit of fabric on his body.

"Hi," his voice was so deep and sexy and that was it, Sarah broke and launched herself at him, kissing him hungrily as she got his boxers off.

"We're kind of dirty," she said realizing they hadn't bathed since leaving Chile almost 2 days ago.

Chuck just giggled.

"I'm just thinking we should keep the bed out of this first round," she thought logically.

"First…" his words turned to moans as Sarah stripped off the rest of her clothes and hopped up on a low bureau.

"Come here," she crooked her finger and Chuck came eagerly into her arms and her legs which wrapped around his waist and brought their bodies flush against each other.

"Here I am."

"Here you are," she looked down and back up to his lust filled eyes.

"I… Sarah, I…." before he could finish that thought she kissed him again and moved against him to get lost in the heat between their bodies.

It was incredibly hard and fast and hot and Sarah was panting as they finished and Chuck buried his face in her neck and she kissed his sweaty temple.

"Wow," he finally spoke.

"That was payoff for the tension in the cab," Sarah said as she unwrapped her legs from Chuck's waist, she frowned as he stepped back and separated their bodies.

"Huh?" he said ineloquently as he ran a hand through his hair.

"The cab, earlier, I wanted you so bad," Sarah slipped off the bureau and approached him, took his hands in hers.

"Yeah?" he tilted his head to one side.

She just nodded and squeezed his hands.

"Shower?" she asked.

"We are already naked," he grinned.

***555***

Sarah enjoyed a wet naked Chuck in her shower, she really did, but finally she kicked him out so she could wash her hair. She luxuriated under the hot water a little bit longer than truly necessary, dried off and wrapped her hair in a towel and realized Chuck had taken the other towel out to the bedroom and there were no clothes in the bathroom so Sarah walked out of the bathroom naked.

Chuck was watching television, in Portuguese, and laughing. Sarah cleared her throat and he looked over at her, his eyes flicked down and back up very quickly but not without Sarah noticing and smiling.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she fished a clean tee shirt out of her pack.

"Watching this show, it's like Friends," he muted the TV.

"Did you?" she pointed to her head and he nodded.

"Chuck," she said in a harsh whisper.

"It's fine, no one is here to witness it but you and I was bored while you were washing your hair."

"It was 10 minutes since I kicked you out of the shower," she crawled on to the small double bed.

"Felt like longer," he grinned at her and kissed her nose.

"Do you still want to watch TV?" Sarah asked as she threw a leg over his lap and straddled him as she pulled the towel from her head and let her hair fall in wet ropes around her face.

"No," he swallowed loudly and turned off the TV before tossing the remote towards the nightstand.

"Good answer," she rocked against him and he groaned.

"Why did you put a shirt on if this was what you had in mind?" Chuck asked as she worked him out of the boxers he had put on.

"So you could take it off me," she said simply.

"Oh God," he leaned in and kissed her hard.

***555***

In the middle of the night Sarah sniffled awake and felt Chuck's fingers trailing gently against her hair, which had dried in a matted mess after the shower.

"Can't sleep?" she looked up and found his eyes in the dark.

"I'm really enjoying the holding your naked body in bed thing," he admitted.

"You earned some sleep tonight, more than earned," she smiled at the slideshow of sensory memories that passed over her body, they had made very good use of this little hotel room.

"I don't want to miss a moment of this, in case, you know, it ends."

"What do you mean?" Sarah sat up and pulled the sheet with her, rolled free of his body and sat back against the headboard next to him.

"If the agency makes us stop, if they separate us."

"Chuck, that isn't happening. I won't let that happen and if it does, I'll leave," Sarah turned toward him and held his arm in both her hands.

"We both know that sometimes these things are out of our control," Chuck said realistically.

"The agency controls a lot, but we have come too far to go back. If you need to go back for more training we'll get through that and if we are teamed up again then Beckman will either have to deal with this or ignore it, because I am not giving you up Chuck. I am not going to risk someone coming between us," she kissed his cheek tenderly.

"Do you mean that?" he said in the quiet dark of the room.

She nodded and her nose bumped against his cheek. He turned to meet her lips and he cupped her face and poured all his emotions into the kiss, fearing if he let them come out verbally he would terrify her. Sarah had all but admitted she loved him, but he knew the actual words were hard for her and he didn't want to push her, he almost said them earlier and she stopped him.

He accepted the weight of her body on his as they shimmied back down into the bed, their legs tangled and their hands stroking tenderly.

"I thought we should be sleeping," Chuck nipped at her ear.

"We can sleep on the plane," Sarah conceded as she kissed down his neck.

TBC…


	6. Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle

Notes: Thanks for all the continued support, I really love reading your reviews 😊

All of the teams were on the same 4 hour flight the next morning from Lisbon to Oslo, Norway – but Oslo was not their final stop.

"We are going to the Arctic Circle," Chuck said as he read the clue over to make sure he was right.

"Really?" Sarah looked up from her yogurt.

"Yep, flight to Oslo and then a ferry to Svolvaer," Chuck butchered the Norwegian.

"Cool," Sarah nodded.

"Ha! Pun! Cool, it's the Arctic and we are going to freeze to death," Chuck shivered.

"I'll keep you warm," Sarah said with a wink.

"Keep looking at me like that and I will be plenty warm," he grinned.

"You two are almost too gross," Lucy said with a smirk as she passed by on to the bus, Kevin was nowhere to be found.

Chuck felt bad for getting caught being mushy again, but part of him couldn't help feeling proud of his burgeoning relationship with Sarah. The nerd, it seemed, had gotten the girl.

Kevin eventually boarded the bus with all their gear and didn't sit with Lucy. Sarah and Chuck both noticed it, but both assumed it was relationship woes and nothing potentially related to their mission. Unfortunately, Kevin and Lucy had won the previous leg and were getting first class seats on the flight to Oslo and it didn't seem like either of them was going to enjoy them.

Sarah and Chuck had decent seats near the front of the plane, but it really didn't matter on this flight as everyone was on the same ferry, 90 minutes after they landed.

"You tired?" Chuck asked sincerely as he settled in to the window seat, the aisle seat next to Sarah was empty at this point.

"Mmmmm hmmmm," Sarah said with a muffled yawn.

"Once we're in the air we can get more comfortable," Chuck said as he tucked her hair behind her ears and pulled her close for a kiss.

"You asshole!" Lucy's shrill voice rang from the first-class cabin.

Chuck made the universal face for "Eeeekkk!" and Sarah stifled a giggle as Lucy stormed back in to the coach cabin.

"Can I sit here?" she asked both Sarah and the flight attendant at the same time.

Sarah and the flight attendant exchanged startled glances.

"The seat is vacant," the flight attendant looked at her seating chart.

"Sure," Sarah nodded.

"Just, just for a bit. I'll go back later, I just need a minute," Lucy had tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure, it's OK," Sarah said more sympathetically.

"Are you alright?" Chuck asked and the younger woman nodded silently.

Sarah held Chuck's hand in hers and flipped absently through a magazine with the other one. The flight attendant did her spiel about how to fasten your seatbelt and what to do if the masks fell from the overhead bin and soon they were taxiing down the runway.

Once they were off the ground, Chuck raised the arm rest and Sarah shook out the blanket over both of them.

"We're going to get a little extra sleep," Sarah said to Lucy, "stay as long as you like."

"Thanks," Lucy smiled and sniffled.

"You want this for a pillow?" Chuck offered her a tee shirt from his bag that he smooshed up.

"Mmmmm, it smells like you," Sarah said as she arranged herself comfortably.

Chuck kissed her on the forehead and then stacked his head with hers and closed his eyes.

***555***

"Miss?" someone was shaking Sarah's shoulder and she woke up with a start, dislodging poor Chuck who was still sleeping against her.

"Yes," Sarah wiped at her face and hair distractedly.

"We're landing, please put your seats back up," the woman smiled at the sleepy couple.

"Of course," Sarah hit the button on her arm rest and noticed the empty seat next to her.

"She went back to first class a few hours ago," the flight attendant mentioned.

Sarah just nodded and helped Chuck get his seat back up.

"You awake?" she smiled at his huge yawn.

"Yep," he smiled.

"We slept the whole flight," Sarah stretched a bit and rolled her ankles.

Chuck looked out the window and saw a gray foggy day in Oslo.

"Hope the fog burns off before our ferry ride," Chuck noted.

"We are headed to the Arctic Circle, we will have perpetual daylight," Sarah found her lip balm and applied a generous coat.

"This is kind of amazing, the Arctic Circle," Chuck beamed as they touched down.

There was no huge rush to get to the ferry terminal, they had over 90 minutes so Sarah excused herself to the ladies' room where she ran smack in to Lucy.

"Hey, you OK?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, thanks for letting me crash in your row. I just needed to cool down, I went back and talked to Kevin and we are OK. I guess."

"Are you sure? Everything is alright?" Sarah hoped it was nothing more than short tempers.

"Yes," Lucy nodded definitively, understanding where Sarah was trying to subtly go.

"OK, if you need anything though, just let us know."

"You're lucky you know, Chuck is kind of awesome, for a guy," Lucy grudgingly admitted.

"He is, isn't he?" Sarah grinned, patted Lucy on the shoulder and headed in to use the bathroom.

When she finally emerged, Chuck was leaning against a railing nearby.

"I was starting to worry," he handed her her bag.

"I ran in to Lucy," she shouldered her bag and accepted the bottle of orange juice he bought her.

"She alright?" Chuck asked as they moved toward the exit.

"I think so," Sarah flagged a cab down and they proceeded to the ferry terminal.

Their ferry tickets were pre-purchased and the boat was pulling in as Chuck paid their cab driver. The group moved on to the ferry and found comfy seats in the warm interior cabin. The sun had come out, as Chuck had hoped, but despite the sun it was chilly on the deck.

***555***

By the time they arrived in Svolvaer, it was after 9:00 pm, but still light out. The teams arrived at a fishing village.

"Detour," Chuck announced as he handed the card over to Sarah to read.

"Hang Your Heads or Hammer of the Cods – where do they get these names?" Sarah shook her head.

"Well, hammer of the cods is likely a reference to Thor…." Chuck began and stopped when Sarah rolled her eyes at him.

"Right, the challenge?" he smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Either we string together 6 bundles of 10 fish heads and hang them out to dry or we gather 15 already dried cod and process them into a kilo of fish jerky."

"Fish jerky?" Chuck looked amused.

"It's a thing," Sarah handed him back the card.

"I think the first one sounds easier," Chuck surmised and Sarah agreed.

They ventured in to the large open workspace and found long metal tables and lots of fish heads.

"Fish heads, fish heads rolly poly fish heads," Chuck sang under his breath.

They watched a local go through the stringing process, which was quite violent so Chuck hung back and let Sarah work the spike that was needed. He took each bundle of 10 and tied off the ends and flung them over his shoulder.

Sarah made fast work of the fish heads and soon they were on a short walk to the drying racks. As soon as they got there Chuck was ready to just hang the fish on any of the free spaces, but Sarah noticed that certain rows were marked with World Challenge ribbons.

"I think we have to put them here," Sarah pointed at one of the rows.

"Good eye, pretty lady," Chuck agreed and they hung the 6 bundles neatly before calling over the local fish expert to check their work.

"Very good," he said in a thick Norwegian accent and gave them their next clue.

Sarah felt good that they were probably in the lead, although she had no idea how long it took to do the other challenge, it seemed much harder. As they were heading back to their cab Erica and Josh were coming out with their fish heads.

"Look for the rows with the blue & gold ribbons," Sarah whispered to Erica.

"Thanks, girl," Erica smiled.

"That was nice of you," Chuck took her hand and she almost recoiled because she was so gross with fish gunk, but so was he and she wanted to hold his hand.

"I'm nice sometimes," she swung their hands between them.

"Yes, you are," he agreed.

The clue gave them the address of a boat dock and the cab driver took them there with ease.

"Roadblock – Who's the biggest swinger?" Chuck read with alarm.

"Calm down Chuck, I doubt this is a sex challenge," Sarah teased.

"Remember the suburbs, I am never too cautious," he whispered and she laughed.

"I just speared a bunch of fish heads, so I think I deserve a break," Sarah cocked her head to one side and waited for an argument.

"What do you think it is?" Chuck looked at the blank back of the card for more clues.

"No idea, but I imagine you will get wet," Sarah indicated the water around them.

"Alright, I'll do it, but you have to warm me up later."

"You're on," Sarah leaned in and kissed him softly as Erica and Josh approached.

"I'm doing the roadblock, Josh, you in?" Chuck asked.

"Sure," he said before even reading the clue.

"OK, those of you doing the roadblock come with me, the others will be getting in to boats to meet your partner when they are done," a World Challenge rep explained, so Chuck and Josh headed off as Sarah and Erica got in their own high speed motor boats with a WC rep and a pilot.

"Chuck is going to bungee off that bridge there and release his cord into the water, he then has to swim to that buoy and pull off a clue, we will pick him up and you are off to your next location," The WC rep explained to Sarah.

"Yikes," she widened her eyes, the Chuck she knew before the 2.0 would not be really excited about bungee jumping off a bridge.

"Jump off the bridge!" Chuck freaked out for a second as he was putting on a wetsuit and being secured in the harness.

"Yep, you'll step off and bungee, then as you swing you will decide when to pull the cord for your water landing, you want to get as close to that buoy as you can so you don't have to swim very far. You're first Chuck," the WC rep explained.

"Where's Sarah?" Chuck looked down and instantly got dizzy.

"In that red boat," the guy pointed.

"OK," Chuck nodded.

"You ready?"

"Yep," he said while he shook his head in the negative.

"You can do this, Chuck. Just think of how grateful Sarah will be that you spared her from this," Josh encouraged from the sidelines where he seemed perfectly fine with jumping off a bridge over freezing Arctic water.

Chuck had jumped off the Buy More once with a much less secure harness and a much harder ground down below, but he did that to save Sarah and the adrenaline of the moment far outweighed any logical thought process.

For a split-second Chuck thought about trying to flash, was there something in the 2.0 that erased abject terror? That could come in handy actually. Instead he just took a deep breath and stepped off the bridge.

Sarah watched from below and cringed as he dropped, but the bungee cord did its job and Chuck bounced a couple times and then began to swing like a pendulum.

"OK, Chuck, let go now," Sarah yelled when he was in a good position.

He yanked on the release cord quickly and he dropped fairly close to the buoy. He still had to swim some and the water was freezing, even though he had a wetsuit on, but he was always a strong swimmer and he made it to the clue quickly.

"We can't get any closer," the WC guide on the boat yelled to Chuck.

Chuck swam out a little bit so the boat could pick him up easily and the WC guy and Sarah hauled him in to the boat.

"Oh my God, that was amazing," Sarah gushed and it was not a show for the staff, she was genuinely impressed.

Chuck just nodded as his teeth chattered.

"Get him out of the wet suit," the staffer suggested.

Sarah quickly removed the wet suit and got warm dry socks on Chuck's feet, she opened her jacket and invited him in to her body heat and he melted against her with a happy sigh as she dried his hair with a tee shirt from her bag.

"You OK?" she kissed his cheek and it felt warmer.

"Yes, but don't stop warming me up," he smiled against her warm neck.

"You did really good, Chuck."

"Thanks," he said with pride in his voice.

"I didn't enjoy watching you jump off a bridge," she whispered against his ear, her breath adding to the warmth.

Chuck couldn't say anything, even with the boat's engine drowning him out, but he knew that feeling. He had watched Sarah put her life at risk so many times over the years for him, for others.

"It reminded me of that time you saved my life," she whispered back and squeezed him tightly.

***555***

It was now well after midnight and still light out as the weary team got to a new challenge, they had to use a pickup truck to haul a bolder off some dirt under which a clue was buried.

Chuck and Sarah worked together to chain up the boulder securely and Sarah drove the truck while Chuck did the searching. He found the clue, which included a bag of odd looking coins and the duo was off on foot to another location.

"Today has been a long day," Chuck mentioned.

"The perpetual daylight doesn't help," Sarah yawned.

They walked for nearly a mile when the building on their clue came in to sight.

"Finally, this better be the pit stop," Chuck sighed, but picked up the pace.

Jen was there with a bunch of Vikings.

"Welcome to an authentic Viking Long House," Jen indicated the wide-open space with several costumed Vikings partaking in different Viking activities.

"Thanks," Sarah smiled.

"Chuck and Sarah, you are the first team to arrive to the Longhouse, but you are not done racing today," Jen handed them another clue.

"Oh God," Sarah moaned.

"Night never falls here in the Arctic Circle," Jen shrugged.

"Where to next?" Sarah asked, not leaving the warm inside of the Long House.

"Gdansk," Chuck reported.

"But that's in Poland," Sarah frowned.

"Yes, yes it is. Ready for a 34-hour boat ride?" he grinned.

"In these waters? At this time of year?" Sarah turned to Jen who nodded.

"Oh man," Sarah frowned, she had already given away too much, would the average person know what a rough boat ride they had ahead.

"The first boat leaves at 5:00, there is another at 7:00," Jen informed although it was written on the card.

Chuck and Sarah took a cab to the boat terminal and got tickets for the 5:00 am boat, they curled up in the small waiting area and watched as Erica & Josh, Monica & Kelly, Adam & Nancy, Mandy & Molly and Doug & Jake turned up before 5:00. The 6 pairs of racers got on the first boat. That left Kevin & Lucy, Alan & Zeke, Gary & Greg and Dave & Joe on the later boat.

The boat launched and as expected the ride was quite rough. Within a couple hours Erica and Josh were tending to seasick Monica, Adam, Nancy and Mandy.

"You OK?" Chuck asked as he found Sarah out on the deck of the boat.

Sarah looked a little pathetic when she looked up.

"Hey, you aren't OK. Want me to get Erica?"

"I'll be fine, I just need to stay out here in the fresh air, where I can see the horizon," she indicated the colorless white sky that hardly differentiated from the cold gray water.

"How about I at least get you a chaise lounge and some food?" Chuck looked around and found a deck chair and pulled it over to a good spot where Sarah could still watch the muted horizon.

He ran to their cabin and got some blankets and built Sarah a little cocoon to relax in and then he went and got food. He unpacked 4 bottles of water, 2 ginger ales, 2 sandwiches….

"I went with the pickled herring," he held the wax paper wrapped sandwiches up and the look she gave him was so sad he almost laughed.

"Kidding, it is just cheese," he promised.

"I also got you a little chocolate, because that can't hurt right," he produced a candy bar and a couple bags of chips.

"You don't have to take care of me," she weakly protested.

"Of course I do," he blew off her protest.

"I'll be fine."

"I know you will, you are Sarah Walker, the strongest woman I know, but if I can make you even a tiny bit more comfortable then I am going to do that," Chuck said as he arranged her stuff on a table and maneuvered his body on to the chaise behind her.

"Are you feeling OK?" she asked as the ship lurched and dropped over the angry swells.

"I'm fine," he promised and kissed her temple as he wrapped his arms around her.

"How?"

"I told you when we were still in LA, stomach of steel," he laughed.

"Seasickness is less about your stomach and more about equilibrium," she explained.

"Well then I also have an equilibrium of steel."

"My own Robert Downey Jr."

"Huh?"

"Isn't he the steel man or something?"

Chuck was confused for a second and then chuckled.

"No, he's Iron Man. The man of steel is Superman."

"Oh, so you're my own personal Superman," she had settled back against his warm body and as she nibbled the cheese sandwich she did feel better.

Erica came out a bit later to get some air and eat her own lunch.

"You 2 surviving out here?"

"I'm a little green," Sarah admitted, "but Chuck is taking very good care of me."

"Good, make sure to stay hydrated and eat, most people stop eating when they feel seasick and it just makes it worse."

"Chuck brought me a feast," Sarah indicated their bag of trash.

"Looks like you are in very capable hands," Erica smiled at the couple.

"How's everyone else?" Chuck asked.

"OK, Monica and Nancy are pretty sick, but Adam and Mandy are more like Sarah, just under the weather. Everyone else has Chuck's sturdy composition I guess. I talked to the ship nurse, who speaks very good English in case you need her, and she said the captain told her the ride will smooth out in a few hours."

"That's good news," Sarah smiled.

"Take care of each other, hopefully I'll see you for dinner," Erica patted Sarah on the head as she passed by.

"What can I do for you?" Chuck asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Just keep me distracted," Sarah said quietly.

"Well, my new favorite way to entertain you is probably off the table since we are out in public and you feel pukey," he said with a grin.

Sarah feigned shock, but then just laughed at the adorable look on his face.

"For the record, if the seas calm down and we get to leave this public space I will be very happy to participate in your new favorite form of entertainment."

Chuck bounced his eyebrows at her and she laughed again.

"I love you, Sarah," he said it suddenly, but with so much genuine affection in his voice that Sarah gasped, she actually gasped.

"I know it isn't the easiest thing for you to acknowledge, but I do, I love you," he kissed the side of her head and held her close to him again.

He didn't need her to say anything in return, the fact that she let him hold her was enough. Sarah wasn't sure if it was the vulnerability of exhaustion and nausea or what, but Chuck's words brought instant tears to her eyes, but not the paralyzing fear she had had in the past when faced with such sincere emotion from Chuck.

"Chuck?" she turned in his arms and saw nothing but love on his face, no expectation or anything to indicate he would be disappointed if she didn't say it in return.

He leaned forward and kissed her softly, sparing her having to say anything at all.

***555***

"It seems calmer, right?" Chuck asked a few hours later after he and Sarah emerged from a nap.

"Yeah," Sarah unfolded her body from Chuck's and stood for a second, she finished one of the water bottles and walked to the recycling bin to test her sea legs, the ocean was definitely calmer and the sun was warm on her face.

"It's almost 5:00," Chuck noted.

"I'm kind of hungry," Sarah noticed.

"Well, you know I am. You feel well enough to go inside?"

"I think so," Sarah nodded.

They cleaned up and folded their blankets, which Chuck carried under one arm as the other wrapped loosely around Sarah. They navigated the narrow hallways of the ship and found their cabin. Sarah hadn't spent much time in the cabin, knowing that staying inside would just make the seasickness worse.

Chuck unlocked the door and Sarah, ever the spy, first scanned the cabin for surveillance, finding none she flopped down on the very narrow bunk. The cabin was tiny, barely even enough room for both of them to stand at the same time, Chuck moved to the even tinier bathroom and closed the door, leaving Sarah alone with her emotions for a second. When Chuck came out of the bathroom, Sarah was sitting up again looking at her folded hands, if he didn't know better he would have thought she was praying.

"You alright?"

"I love you, Chuck," she said it quickly, without looking at him.

He didn't say anything, let her work through it at her own pace. Finally, she looked up at him and her tired eyes and still not quite healthy complexion was transformed by this wide smile.

"I love you," she said it again, this time looking at him.

He returned the big wide smile.

"I love you," she said one more time as she stood and moved in front of him, their bodies kind of trapped between the bathroom door and the end of the bunk.

He just kissed her, it was a tricky kiss because they were both smiling so much. Finally, Sarah pulled back.

"You know I loved you before we had sex, right? Like a long time ago. I loved you nearly from the moment I met you, Chuck," it just suddenly came rushing out.

"Yeah?" he said with an eager smile as he wrapped a curl of her hair around one of his fingers.

"Yeah," she confirmed as she hugged him.

His stomach growled then and Sarah laughed.

"Well that ruined a beautiful moment," he groaned.

"Nothing could ruin this moment for me, Chuck."

They made their way down to the ship's one full-service restaurant and found the rest of the WC crew there minus Monica, Nancy & Adam.

"There you are, I was getting worried," Erica said as she waved to Chuck and Sarah.

"I'm doing better," Sarah promised, "Chuck never let me get dehydrated."

"Good boy," Erica praised.

Even though she was feeling better, Sarah ordered a very bland meal – some plain fish and potatoes, but splurged on a glass of wine.

"Just one," Josh pointed his fork at her.

"Yes, Doctor Josh," Sarah smiled.

"Chuck, your sister is a doctor, right? Is that where you got such good bedside manner skills?" Erica asked.

"Huh, maybe. She has been babying me for almost 30 years," Chuck grinned.

"I will tell her what an excellent job you did taking care of me," Sarah patted his arm.

"How long have we been racing?" Dave asked as he ate his dessert.

"Days, I think," his cousin Jake answered.

"Yeah, with no darkness and nothing to do on this ship it is a pretty long day," Kelly agreed.

"We should probably get some sleep," Sarah suggested.

"If I had someone like Chuck to keep me company, I'd be ready for bed too," Mandy mumbled to Molly.

Sarah heard her and her first reaction was anger, followed by jealousy, but then she looked at Chuck and he was only paying attention to her. There was no need to be worried or jealous again, Chuck Bartowski loved her, he said so.

"Ready?" Sarah smiled back at him.

"See you guys in the morning," Chuck stood.

***555***

Chuck stopped at the little snack bar and bought some ice cream on the walk back to their cabin. Sarah went to the bathroom and washed up and changed into fresh sleeping clothes and snuck a kiss from Chuck as they literally shimmied past each other in the tiny space.

When Chuck came out they sat on the bunk cross-legged and facing each other and used the little wooden spoon to scrape at the chocolate ice cream.

"Mmmmm," Sarah smiled.

The ice cream was smooth and creamy, high in fat, but Sarah didn't care it tasted so good.

Chuck ate his happily, but his eyes never left Sarah's face. He watched her enjoy the frozen treat with some of the most honest abandon he had ever seen with the delightful exception of their recently launched sex life.

What?" she finally said self-consciously.

"You're adorable," he reached out and patted her knee.

"Dork!"

"Nerd, I prefer nerd actually."

"My nerd," she smiled as she finished her ice cream.

"Done?" she dropped her gaze to the ice cream cup in his lap.

"Yeah," he handed it to her and she stood up to throw them away.

As she walked by, he snagged her hand in his and kissed it.

"Hold on to that thought," she smiled.

While Sarah moved about the cabin, pulling the curtain and turning off the lights, Chuck took out his phone and unlocked it. He pulled up his I Tunes and found a particular album, a perfect song and as Sarah came back to the bunk and kneeled in front of him he smiled a slow tender smile.

"What's this?"

"This is going to be your favorite song."

"Oh?"

"Just listen," he encouraged as they arranged themselves on the tiny bunk.

There was a second bunk above them, but there was no indication either of them wanted to sleep alone. Sarah draped her body over Chuck's and as the glorious voice of Nina Simone filled the tiny cabin. Sarah listened to the words and the rhythm of the song almost caressed her skin or that was just Chuck's warm hand sliding along her back, her side, her thigh.

Sarah turned her face into his neck, kissed him there, felt his pulse under her tongue. Chuck's pulse picked up when Sarah shifted her body to press their lower halves even closer together.

"Sarah," he sighed into the next kiss and moved to roll her under him.

"Careful," Sarah reached out to make sure they didn't fall off the bunk.

Chuck shifted and kept them on the bed, but managed to get Sarah beneath him before he continued the kissing, the long slow wonderful kissing that they had very quickly mastered.

Nina Simone moved on to a new track, the tempo a little faster and Sarah was spurred to move faster herself, pulling Chuck's shirt off and wriggling out of her pants.

"Oh God," Chuck groaned when Sarah wrapped her legs around him, pulling him as close as he could possibly be.

"You feel so good," he kissed along her shoulder.

"I love you" Sarah said when Chuck reached her face with his lips.

Since she said it earlier it became so incredibly easy to tell this wonderful man she loved him. She truly loved him, she loved him more than anyone she had ever loved in her life. This man who was looking at her now, in the dark cabin, their faces so close together she felt every breath he took.

"You are everything Sarah. Everything I ever wanted, everything I longed for, everything I needed. I love you too, more than I could possible tell you."

The talking portion of the evening was over, the desire between them was pushed to the forefront and there was no way Sarah could possibly respond to what Chuck said with anything nearly as eloquent, so she put all her emotion into moving with him. They used the small space to their advantage, getting maximum skin to skin time, their range of motion restricted, but their bodies humming with friction.

In the back of Sarah's mind, she realized that of the 3 nights they had spent together and the numerous times they had made love that no two times were the same, that they were still uncovering one another and finding innovative ways to surprise each other.

And when Chuck collapsed his weight on top of her and she cradled him against her body and kissed his damp forehead over and over until he practically purred, Sarah had never felt so safe, so loved.

They worked to find a comfortable sleeping position, the bunk really wasn't big enough for Chuck let alone both of them, but eventually they fell asleep, the boat rocking under them.

Chuck woke up later and really needed to pee. He tried to move, but the warm soft weight of Sarah on top of him made it hard. Between the rocking of the ship and the tiny bunk space, Sarah was holding on pretty tight, even in her deep sleep.

"Sarah," he whispered as he tried to shift her off of him.

Sarah mumbled something and held on even tighter. Chuck smiled at her, loved having her in his arms like this, but he really had to pee.

"Sarah," he tried a little louder and she stirred a bit.

Chuck knew as a CIA officer, Sarah could wake up at the drop of a hat, so she was either faking or so comfortable in bed with him that she let that part of her guard down. He figured it was the former.

"Babe, I have to get up," he said directly in her ear and felt her stiffen.

"Sorry," she slurred and rolled toward the wall to free him.

When Chuck returned from the bathroom she was still on her side, back to the wall and he could see her bright eyes open.

"Sorry I had to wake you up," he said as he climbed back into the bunk and pulled her close again.

"You called me babe," she mentioned.

"Was that not OK?" he looked slightly panicked and Sarah could see it even in the dark.

"No, it's fine. I just… Do you have any idea how many men have called me babe over the years?" she didn't sound mad.

"Um, a lot?" Chuck started to think of some of the ways he had heard Jeff & Lester discuss women, sometimes right in front of them.

"A lot. And not once in all those times had it felt as intimate and loving as it just did when you said it," her voice was quiet in the silent cabin, it was full of thought and wonder.

"Yeah?" he didn't want to disturb the mood.

"Yeah," she leaned up a bit to reach his lips and kissed him softly.

"So, it's OK? We are still really knew at this real relationship thing," he rolled his eyes.

"It is OK for you to call me babe, especially when your voice is all sleepy and sexy like it was just then," she kissed him again, less gentle.

TBC…


	7. Poland

Poland

Notes: Thanks again for the kind words, they definitely inspire me to write more!

***555***

"What time is it?" Sarah asked in a gravelly sleep voice that drove Chuck crazy with desire.

"Don't care," he said as he pulled her close enough to kiss.

"Can I say something and you won't be offended?"

"That question almost always ends up with someone being offended, but go for it, I'm feeling generous."

"I didn't expect you to be so comfortable with this part of our relationship," Sarah sat up as much as she could in the small bunk, the thin sheet slipping off her body.

"Which part?"

"The sex part. I expected you to be completely comfortable with the emotional part, that was going to be my struggle," she smiled ruefully, "but I thought you'd be shyer about this, more awkward."

Chuck was quiet for a moment and Sarah feared she had actually offended him, but before he spoke he kissed her again.

"Sarah, if we had somehow wound up in bed on that first first date I am certain I would have been a bumbling fool about it all, but I've grown up a lot in the past 2 years. I've seen things and experienced things most people don't ever witness and I've had to face some pretty big fears."

Sarah nodded her understanding, but let him continue.

"Being around you all the time helped me grow up too. Let's face it, I had my moments of nerdy ogling over the years and that night you were going to sleep over to protect our cover I was a mess, but I learned to be in your presence without falling all over myself. I saw the way other men treated you, looked at you and I didn't want to be that man."

"Which is why when you call me 'babe' it sounds like love, not leering," Sarah said as she sat there naked, barely wrapped in a sheet.

"I hope by now that you know how much I love you, but I hope you have always known how much I respect you. You deserve to be admired for a lot more than what I can now happily confirm is an unbelievably gorgeous body," he smiled at her and she ducked her head at the compliment.

"You should understand that my definition of love goes way beyond sex. I love your mind and your bravery, your loyalty and the sense of humor you claim to not have. I love your tenacity and your patriotism."

"I love all of those same things about you, Chuck," Sarah found his hand on the mattress and held it tenderly.

"So that is why this isn't awkward or weird for me, to see you and touch you and taste you," his voice was soft and deep and Sarah's toes curled.

"I'm sorry I didn't give you that credit, Chuck. You have never been anything but respectful, if a little moony sometimes," she laughed as she let him pull her close and kiss her neck.

"I'm glad we talked about it. I'm glad we can talk about these things, but I'd like to stop talking now," he said as he slipped her ear lobe in his mouth.

"Ohhhhhh kay," she sighed as he continued to lick and suck at her ear, she had no idea her ears were so sensitive.

***555***

"What time is it now?" Sarah asked a while later.

"Still don't know, we're on this ship for most of the day though," Chuck said as he stroked his hand along her bare back.

The seas were much calmer and Sarah was finding the voyage now to be quite relaxing, her eyes fluttering against Chuck's chest.

"You must be hungry," she mentioned as she shifted against him a bit.

"I could eat," he laughed and she felt it rumble through his chest.

"I'm really comfy though," Sarah kissed his chest, right over his heart.

"How about you stay here in bed and I'll throw on some clothes and go get some breakfast…. or lunch?" Chuck offered.

"That would require you getting out of this bunk and you are a big part of why I am so comfy," she folded her hands on his chest and rested her chin on them, looking up at him through thick lashes.

"I'll get some more of that ice cream," he grinned at her.

"Hurry back," she conceded and rolled a bit to let him out of bed.

***555***

Chuck could hear voices and suddenly he heard Sarah's name. His first response was fear that their cover was blown, but as he hung back he realized it was Mandy and Molly, talking about him.

"I mean Sarah's pretty and all, but I have taken men from prettier girls," Chuck assumed that was Mandy as she had been the most overt in her attraction to him.

"I think they are very cute together and they are clearly in love, do you see the way they look at each other," the other voice which likely belonged to Molly.

"Well I am certain I can get him to look at me that way and he lives in LA, we could actually be together after the race. I want to try and form an alliance with them, get closer."

"Sarah seems a little smarter than that, Mandy," her friend laughed.

"Oh please, she won't even see me coming."

Chuck took this opportunity to come around the corner.

"Oh, hey Chuck," Molly said, despite Sarah's teasing Chuck did know which was which.

"Morning, ladies!" he greeted cheerfully as if he hadn't just heard what he'd heard.

"It's actually afternoon, you guys missed breakfast," Molly replied.

"Huh, we just woke up," Chuck said with a puzzled look on his face.

"All the daylight is confusing," Molly shrugged.

"Yeah, that must be it. I guess I am getting lunch now instead of breakfast."

"Where's Sarah? She still not feeling well," Mandy feigned concern.

"Oh no, she's feeling fine now. She was all cozy in the bunk and I didn't want to make her get up," Chuck wrinkled his nose in the most adorable way, he might have been playing with Mandy a little.

"Well, that is awfully sweet of you, Chuck," Molly said as she looked at Mandy with warning.

"Kind of crappy of her to make you get up," Mandy snarked.

"Oh, I offered. No sense in both of us getting dressed and this way I can just crawl back in the bunk with her when I get back," Chuck slid his hands in his pockets and cocked his head towards the café, "guess I should get going."

"Have a good day," Molly waved while Mandy picked at her nail polish.

Chuck huffed out a laugh as he walked around the sandwich case deciding what to get for lunch, he didn't want to tease Mandy, but he found the whole situation a little funny; like he would ever look at a woman other than Sarah Walker.

He finally settled on some sandwiches and a potato salad with peas and pickles in it. He got some water and lemonade and a giant cookie that looked delicious in addition to another ice cream for Sarah. As Chuck was paying for lunch he caught site of Josh out of the corner of his eye and Josh was chatting with Javier, so Chuck took his bag and walked over to say hello.

"Hi guys," Chuck greeted.

"Hey, Chuck," Javier smiled and then bid them both farewell and headed off.

"How's Sarah?" Josh asked.

"Good, hungry. I'm heading back to the cabin with lunch."

"We dock around 2:00," Josh reminded.

"Yep, excited for Poland," Chuck smiled and proceeded on to his cabin.

When he opened the door to the cabin he turned on the light and found Sarah in the exact same position on the bed, clutching a pillow in place of his body.

"Have I been replaced so easily?" he teased.

"Mmmmm, never," Sarah mumbled before rolling away from the pillow and stretching as much as she could in the cramped space.

"You are going to melt the ice cream with all your hotness," Chuck mentioned as he unpacked he food.

"I should eat that first," Sarah mused and Chuck handed it over.

Chuck had watched Sarah eat ice cream last night, but she was naked now which inherently made it much more entertaining.

"So, I did a little spy work while I was out."

"Oh?" Sarah said around a spoonful of ice cream.

"I overheard Mandy and Molly chatting and hung back to listen."

"Why?" Sarah was paying more attention now, "mission?" she whispered.

"No, they were talking about you and I was worried for a split second that our cover was blown, but really they were just talking about our relationship. Mandy thinks she can break us up," Chuck laughed.

"Really?" Sarah's eyes went wide.

Chuck nodded.

"I mean, I knew she was flirting with you, but this is ridiculous. What kind of woman goes after another woman's boyfriend?" Sarah's nostrils flared a little.

"I don't know, but Molly tried to talk her out of it."

"Good," Sarah said as she finished her ice cream.

"Hungry?" Chuck grinned at the speed with which she ate her ice cream.

"Yes," Sarah said with a smirk.

Chuck arranged the rest of the food on the bunk and crawled in with her.

"Anything else going on out there?" Sarah asked as she opened a water and took a long sip.

"I saw Josh & Javier talking," Chuck wasn't sure if he should be suspicious of that.

Sarah just nodded and filed it away in her head.

"Did you hear anything?"

"No, they were too far away and Josh saw me coming."

Sarah nodded again.

"We dock in a couple hours."

"Really?"

"Yep, we slept a while."

"More than slept…" Sarah looked at him through her lashes and he smiled.

"True," he munched on a sandwich.

"I like this tiny cabin, I almost don't want to leave. I wish we could just stay here locked away and naked for a while."

"Me too," he reached out and cupped her knee.

"Stupid mission," she frowned.

"This mission brought me back to you," Chuck reasoned.

"You're right."

"And maybe, if we succeed, we can take a real vacation."

"Like you were thinking at Ellie & Devon's wedding?"

"Exactly, some tropical beach spot with fruity drinks and hammocks."

"I'd like that," Sarah said shyly.

***555***

The ship docked in Gdansk, Poland mid-afternoon. The teams took cabs to Solidarity Square where they found Jen.

"Welcome to Gdansk and Solidarity Square! This very spot was critical to Poland's fight for freedom from Soviet Oppression, workers gathered here as early as 1956 and again and again through the 60's 70's but it was under the leadership of Lech Walesa in 1980 that Solidarity was born. Poland was the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union, achieving freedom in 1989."

The group took a chance to look around and take in the history surrounding them.

"You are now going to an even older part of town though," Jen added as WC staff handed out clues.

"Another picture," Chuck showed Sarah.

She nodded and he knew that meant she knew where it was. They play acted asking a shop keeper, but really just bought some water and then were off to the Golden Gate.

Once there, Sarah found the clue box.

"Detour: Pose or…." She giggled "Polka?" her eyes were bright and he knew what she wanted to do.

"We dress up as living statues and beg for money in the square or we dress up and learn a traditional polka," she did a little dance step and poked him in the shoulder.

"I assume you want to dance?"

"It's a little cold and rainy in the square, I'd rather dance, even if I do have to dress up in some silly costume."

"OK, but when I step on your feet I do not want to hear any complaints."

Sarah set off towards the Old Town Hall before Chuck could change his mind.

As expected the costumes were a bit ridiculous, but Sarah really got in the spirit of things, braiding her hair in 2 pigtail braids.

"I cannot believe we are doing this," Chuck lamented as he put on the short pants and suspenders.

"It'll be fun, consider it a date. We're taking a dance lesson," Sarah said as she emerged from behind her changing screen in her polka dress.

Chuck emerged hesitantly and Sarah tried not to laugh, he did look a little silly, but she enjoyed the light in his eyes when he saw her braids.

"Can I call you Heidi?"

"She was Swiss, not Polish."

Chuck just grinned.

"Come on, Left Foot, let's go!" she dragged him in to the big hall where several local couples were dancing in the same costumes they had on.

They were assigned a couple as instructors and they went over the choreography with them. While Chuck and Sarah were learning Adam & Nancy and Kevin & Lucy arrived and began changing.

The choreography was insane and Chuck kept going left when he should go right. They tried it once with the music, but failed when he twirled Sarah in the wrong direction.

"OK, Chuck. Don't freak out, you can do this."

Adam & Nancy made their first attempt while Sarah & Chuck rehearsed a little more and they too needed more practice. Finally, Chuck shook off his nerves and was ready to try again.

"Let's do this," he took Sarah by the arm and led her to the dance floor.

The music began and Chuck just looked Sarah in the eye and followed the music. This time he twirled her correctly and when they finished the room erupted in applause. Sarah was beaming, it was so fun and having Chuck lead her around the floor was exhilarating, she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him quickly.

"Congratulations!" their instructors presented them with their next clue.

"Thank you," Chuck and Sarah hugged their dance team and headed back to grab their stuff and change.

Luckily Sarah ripped open the clue first.

"Um, Chuck," she said hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"We have to keep the costumes on all day," she bit her bottom lip.

"What?"

"Everyone does and the costumes for that statue thing were just big long body suits, this isn't so bad compared to that."

"Says you, you look like some sexy version of Heidi!" he clearly didn't care that Heidi was Swiss.

"Maybe they'll let us keep them and you can take this off me later…." She whispered in his ear and felt him smile as he turned to kiss her cheek.

"Where to next?' he capitulated to wearing the silly costumer around Gdansk.

"Medieval Crane, it's on the harbor."

As they emerged from the Old Town Hall the sun had burned through the earlier rain and the day smelled sweet.

Sarah got them a cab to the harbor and they walked along the pedestrian way to a bridge that would take them across to the Harbor Crane, an old brick building. Once there the clue box was nowhere to be found so Sarah and Chuck went inside and navigated the big old building until they found the next clue.

"Roadblock: Who has a sweet tooth?" Chuck said with a grin.

"Food challenge?" Sarah's eyebrows went up.

"I'll do it," Chuck said with a shrug.

"You did the last one," Sarah pointed out.

"But that was a couple days ago now, I can handle it," he assured her.

"OK, where to?" Sarah asked looking around.

Suddenly Javier emerged from the shadows of the room.

"Chuck is doing the roadblock?" he asked.

"Yes," Chuck answered.

"You are going to the longest apartment building in Poland, more instructions will await you there," Javier informed.

Chuck and Sarah walked back along the harbor and easily found a cab. Sarah pulled out a little Polish, with a bad American accent, and said they needed the longest apartment building in Poland.

"What if it's in like Warsaw or something?" Chuck frowned.

The driver smiled and said he knew.

"How far?" asked Sarah in Polish.

"Not far," he replied in English with a grin.

Chuck googled it while they drove, it was in fact in Gdansk.

"It's called Faloweic or waves, there are 4, but the longest is Obroncow Wybreza…"

"Ya, ya," the driver nodded and smiled.

"It is almost half a mile long, 11 stories high and houses over 6000 people," Chuck's eyes bulged a bit.

"That is a very big apartment building," Sarah agreed.

When they got there, they saw that Jake & Doug were just getting there in their black skin tight body suits from the statue challenge.

"Any sign of the clue box?" Chuck asked.

"Oh man, these costumes are something else," Jake smiled, "Sarah, you look like the Swiss Miss girl, but you know, way hotter."

"Thanks?" Sarah tilted her head in confusion.

"Clue box?" Chuck asked again slightly less friendly.

"Sorry, you look cute too, Chuck," Jake grinned and pointed to where Doug was headed to get the clue.

"See you as soon as I can," Chuck kissed Sarah and jogged off, his little hat falling off as he ran.

"It's a list of apartments, all of them will have these Polish donuts, when we find the one with the cherry filling we'll get the clue. Apparently, since we are going in to actual people's homes, we must be on our best behavior and the people can refuse us the clue if we are rude," Doug reported as Chuck opened the clue.

"Divide and conquer? I'll go to the left you go to the right?" Chuck offered.

"Text if you find the cherry donut?" Doug held out his phone to exchange numbers.

"Sure," Chuck agreed, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement at this stage.

Chuck reviewed the list and figured out the numbering system, the building, then floor, then apartment number. There were elevators, but he took the stairs to save time.

The first apartment he knocked at was answered by an older man with grey hair. Chuck had held out using the Intersect, but he wanted to chat with these people so he allowed the Intersect to provide him with some Polish, although he tried to not sound as fluent as he could.

He asked if he could come in and the man welcomed him kindly and invited him to sit down in front of a plate of delicious homemade looking donuts. Chuck was asked to try one, which he did and found lemon in the middle. It was delicious though and he ate the whole thing, wiped his hands on a napkin and thanked the man with a smile before moving on.

While she was waiting, Sarah noticed Mandy & Molly arrive. The pair saw her right away and she saw a small fist pump from Mandy when the woman realized Chuck was doing the challenge, sure enough Molly came to join the team members that were waiting.

"Mandy seems excited to do this roadblock, she must really like sweets," Sarah said casually and Molly grinned.

"She's harmless, she'll flirt but she won't do anything else," Molly promised.

"I'm not worried," Sarah said confidently.

"You shouldn't be, I have never seen a guy so goofy in love as Chuck," Molly laughed.

Chuck went to 4 more apartments, each with a lovely resident and a delicious donut, but he was getting full fast. He began breaking the donut in half and only eating a few bites, no one seemed offended especially when he patted his stomach and joked about bursting his adorable suspenders.

One woman thought he was much too skinny and was ready to make him some Pierogi, but he explained he had to move on, kissed both her cheeks and fled before being roped in to a 4-course meal.

Finally, he knocked on his 6th apartment door and a woman in her 40's answered. She was dressed professionally and she admitted she had just finished the donuts which Chuck could smell were warm and fresh.

When he sat, the woman poured him a glass of water, which he needed desperately, as her husband joined and they chatted a bit before Chuck dove in to the donut. It was cherry and absolutely the most delicious one yet.

"So good," Chuck murmured in English and then repeated himself in Polish.

"Thank you," the woman replied in English with a proud smile as she handed over the clue.

"Do you have enough," Chuck began in purposefully stilted Polish, "Could I bring one to my girlfriend?"

"Of course," she said and wrapped one up in a napkin for him.

With handshakes and cheek kisses, Chuck left with the clue and the donut.

He texted the address to Doug as he jogged down the stairs. He made it back to Sarah's side and presented her with the donut.

"Trust me, it is worth it," he smiled as she looked at the decadent treat.

"How many of these did you have to eat?"

"Six, but a few I only ate half of," he assured her.

"Spinach for dinner," she reprimanded but took a bite and hummed with glee.

"Good, right?" he nodded.

"So good," she swallowed the bite and kissed him, letting him taste the sugar on her lips.

"OK, Doug is right behind me, let's go," he waved to everyone still there and took Sarah's hand to retrieve a taxi to the Sopot Pier.

"So, this pier is the longest wooden pier in the world," Chuck noted as Sarah finished her donut in the taxi.

"Want to bet Jen will be at the end of it?" she snorted.

"Likely," Chuck reached over and squeezed her thigh as they rode through the city.

Doug and Jake were right behind them, but their cab driver stopped further away than Chuck & Sarah's.

"We could let them win," Sarah noted.

"We could and I agree that we don't always have to be first, but not this time. Run," he yelled as he paid the driver and shouldered his bag.

Doug and Jake saw Chuck and Sarah running and tried to catch up, but to no avail.

"Congratulations, Chuck & Sarah," Jen laughed as they jogged in to the check point.

"Thanks!" Chuck sucked in a big breath.

"You are the first team to arrive! Doug & Jake, welcome, you are team #2. As winners of this leg you will get private accommodations tonight," Jen smiled, clearly with more to tell them.

"Tonight you will be travelling via train to Vienna. Train departs from Glowny station here in Gdansk at midnight, it will stop in Warsaw and then go on to Vienna arriving tomorrow afternoon at 1:00. You are free to enjoy Gdansk for the rest of the evening, have dinner at any of the restaurants on your clue card, a prefix menu is available to you at all of them."

"Overnight train ride through Europe, pretty cool," Chuck smiled.

"Even cooler for you two, you will have a deluxe compartment with breakfast service. Doug & Jake, everyone else will team up as 2 teams per compartment. See you at the train station."

"What about these costumes?" Chuck asked with a wince.

"You can change," Jen chuckled.

"Thank you!" he pulled the hat right off his head.

As the teams turned to walk back the full length of the world's longest wooden pier, Jake spoke.

"Did you know it was private digs again, Chuck?" he didn't sound mad, more amused.

"No, and Sarah wanted to let you guys win since we'd already won a couple times. I was the one who decided to leg it out to beat you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep, maybe next time you see a beautiful woman you could refrain from objectifying her in public," he clapped Jake on the shoulder and walked with Sarah towards the small park at the end of the pier so they could sit and plan for the evening.

Sarah didn't say anything, but when they sat down she launched herself at Chuck and kissed him for all she was worth.

***555***

That evening, Chuck and Sarah found a cute little shopping area near one of the restaurants on the list.

"Do you mind if we split up for a sec?" Sarah asked.

"Sure, I thought I might try and find a souvenir for Ellie," Chuck tilted his head toward a gift shop.

"You're supposed to be in Texas," she reminded him.

"I'll spin something, you dragged me to some international craft fair," he fluttered his hand as if weaving a story.

"OK, but not too big, we have to lug it around for a couple more weeks."

"Yep, where are you going?"

"Just a street over, I saw a little something in a window I need to pick up," she said vaguely.

"OK, meet you back at the clock tower thingy in half an hour?"

"Perfect, have fun!" she kissed him and turned on her heel.

Chuck walked in to the gift shop and pointed as if to ask if he could stash his big pack by the register, the older woman at the register nodded her understanding and he thanked her in Polish, remembering the words from his flash earlier.

Gdansk was known for a few things, some gorgeous pottery that would be impossible to transport while on the race and amber from the nearby Baltic sea. Chuck examined the jewelry in a case thoroughly, picking out a perfect bracelet for Ellie. He wasn't planning to get anything for Sarah, but then a certain thing caught his eye, he checked the prices of the 2 items he wanted and the prices were so reasonable, he bought them both.

The lady at the register put the items in separate boxes.

"For wife?" she smiled and spoke accented English.

"Sister," he touched the bracelet box "and girlfriend" he touched the box she had just closed.

"Lucky girlfriend," she winked at him and patted his hand.

Chuck blushed and handed over his credit card. He signed the slip and retrieved his bag, packing Ellie's gift in a hidden pocket and putting the one for Sarah in an easy to reach spot.

While Chuck was flirting with older Polish women, Sarah slipped in to a shop she saw when they went in to a fast food restaurant to change out of their costumes earlier. The bell at the door tinkled her arrival and a posh looking young woman looked up.

Sarah knew she didn't look like their normal clientele in her jeans and tee shirt, her hair still in braids and no make-up on, sneakers on her feet and giant backpack.

"Can I help you?" the woman said in Polish, trying to seem unwelcoming.

Sarah looked around the shop, saw the one dressing room door open and the space empty, knowing she was alone in the shop she spoke Polish rapidly and fluently.

"I know I look a wreck, but I know exactly what I want and my sizes, could you help me?" she asked as she pulled out her credit card.

"Ya," the woman nodded.

"I want that," she pointed to the mannequin in the window and rattled off her sizes.

Ten minutes later Sarah was walking out the door when she ran in to Molly and Mandy coming out of the fast food place.

"Oh, hey Sarah," Mandy greeted.

"Hello, ladies," she waved.

"Whatchya got there?" Molly asked of the small cream colored bag with the store's curlicue design on it.

"Oh, just a little something for Chuck," Sarah smiled as the two women looked at the window display.

"See you at the train station," Sarah bid them farewell and headed off to meet Chuck at their designated spot.

He was already there, leaning against a lamp post looking so delicious Sarah couldn't help the flutter in her stomach. They had been together 24/7 for the past week and she wasn't the least bit sick of him, she had never spent so much uninterrupted time with anyone in her life and she had to admit the idea had made her a little nervous, but Chuck had proven to be a great travelling companion and a wonderful partner.

"Hey," she got his attention.

"You came back," he grinned.

"Of course I did," she kissed him and snuggled in to his arms for a second.

"Did you get anything?" he looked for a bag.

"Packed away already," she said, "and you, did you get something for Ellie?"

"I did and it doesn't say Made in Poland anywhere," he teased her.

"Excellent, want to grab dinner?"

He didn't even dignify that with an answer, just slung an arm over her shoulder and turned them towards the restaurant.

***555***

The train was lovely and as Chuck and Sarah said good night to everyone and moved toward their private compartment, Sarah noticed Javier coming out of the door. He went the other way, but Sarah thought it was weird.

"I can't believe Monica and Kelly were eliminated. I liked them," Chuck said as they walked, the train still parked at the station.

"They thought we were heathens for sleeping together before marriage," Sarah noted.

"How'd they know we were sleeping together?" Chuck furrowed his brow.

"They just assumed, ironically, before we were actually sleeping together," Sarah whispered.

She used her key to open the door and on the bed, was a WC packet with their clue for tomorrow and a note that no one would be in to bother them until after breakfast, which would be delivered at 9:00 am sharp. That must have been what Javier was doing in the compartment, but Sarah plucked the surveillance device from her bag and was extra vigilant with the scan. Once again the device glowed green.

"This is nice," Chuck said of the small but well-appointed cabin with a decent size double bed in it.

"That bed will seem like a California King after the bunk on the ship," Sarah laughed.

"That is true. I desperately need a shower; do you mind if I go in? Or you could join me?" he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"This is very nice by train travel standards, but I doubt we'll both fit in that shower," she opened the door to the bathroom to confirm her suspicions, "but you go ahead."

"I'll be quick," he promised and kissed her before disappearing behind the door.

Sarah took the carefully folded purchase out of her pack and hid it in a tee shirt, she found the bottle of verbena lotion she had taken from the resort in Chile and a few more toiletries and waited for Chuck who emerged after about 10 minutes, his freshly-shaved face a rosy pink and his hair a wild mess of wet curls, a towel slung around his hips.

"All yours!"

"The shower, or this," she tugged him by the knotted towel and ran a finger along the well-defined hip flexor visible above the towel.

"I, um, meant the shower, but I could totally go the other way too," he shuddered under her touch.

"Hold that thought, I need a shower, bad," she frowned.

Sarah made quick work of her shower, tried to dry her hair as best she could with no blow dryer and slipped her new purchases on. She did a little spy work and used the bathroom mirror through the cracked door to see that Chuck had changed into a pair of boxers and currently had his back to her, so she slipped out quickly so she was in the compartment fully when he turned around.

"Wow…" his jaw dropped exactly the way she had hoped it would.

"You like it?" Sarah said, running her finger under the thin satin strap of the pale blue silk chemise.

"Oh, Sarah, like is not even remotely close to how I feel about this," he approached her and reached out to touch the impossibly soft material that barely covered her.

"I wanted to make tonight special," she shrugged and Chuck's eyes widened at how the material moved with the motion.

"Every night has been special," he said sincerely as he leaned down to kiss her bare shoulder.

"Good answer," she laughed and it turned to a moan as Chuck turned his kiss towards her neck.

"I mean it, every moment with you, like this, is better than I ever imagined it, and I imagined it a lot," he stood up on that last comment to give her a goofy smile.

"Did you now?" she moved him back towards the bed.

"Oh, I did," he assured her.

"How often, exactly?" she pushed him to a seated position on the end of the bed.

"So often," he admitted.

"I like you," she smiled as she straddled his lap so they could kiss more easily.

"You smell so good," he managed to eek out between kisses as his hands slipped along the silk.

"You shaved," she mentioned as she kissed along his cheek to his ear.

"For you, so I didn't scrape your delicate skin with my stubble," he smiled and she kissed his lips.

"Oh?" she arched an eyebrow at him and he flipped her off his lap onto her back.

"Chuck!" she laughed.

"Come here," he said as he fell to his knees on the floor by the foot of the bed and tugged her closer to the edge.

Chuck's smooth cheek and skillful lips kissed a trail from her ankle to her thigh as Sarah tried to remember to breathe.

TBC…


	8. Austria

NOTES: Hello all! Apparently, there was no alert sent when I posted the previous chapter. I got an error from FF, but since it updated I thought the alert went as well. So sorry if you missed Poland, but you can catch up now!

Vienna

The motion of the train was different than the motion of the ship. The train had a vibration to it that Chuck could feel in the deepest part of his body as Sarah slept in his arms. There was a sliver of moonlight coming through the curtained window and Chuck caught the glint of the blue silk lingerie Sarah had on earlier, that she bought for him, that she wore for him, that he got to take off her even more beautiful body.

"You…not…sleeping?" Sarah mumbled in her own half consciousness and Chuck laughed.

"Having trouble with words?"

"I…sleep…now…" she rubbed her cheek against this chest and his heart clenched at how tender and sweet a moment it was, how unguarded she was with him now.

"OK, you sleep now," he ran his hand over her hair.

The vibration of the train and the slow steady breathing of the woman on top of him must have lulled Chuck to sleep because the next time he woke up she was on her side next to him, head perched in her hand looking at him.

"Were you watching me sleep?" he asked and hoped he wasn't drooling.

"For a minute," she shrugged.

Chuck turned on his side to face her, curling the pillow under his head.

"Why aren't you asleep? It's the middle of the night," his voice was quiet and reverent.

"I'm just starting to get anxious."

"About what?" he asked as he reached over and ran his thumb along her cheek.

She turned her face into his touch and kissed his palm.

"The mission, it hasn't gone anywhere yet," she whispered.

"Oh," he smiled.

"I'm not anxious about this, Chuck. At least not in a bad way," she scooted closer so she could tangle her legs with his under the covers.

"Good," he leaned close enough to kiss her.

"As for the other thing, we are in a holding pattern. If we get too aggressive we could scare them off, this is the long con, Sarah," he winked at her and she smirked.

"I know, I just …."

"What?" he asked, serious again.

"I wish we were just on vacation," she sighed.

"Permanently…." She whispered.

"Sarah, do you want to stop spying?"

She didn't answer just looked at him and he had never seen such love in anyone's eyes before. He thought he could read Sarah Walker, but the times he saw a glint of her true feelings was nothing compared to this moment.

"Oh, Sarah," he pulled her into his arms and held her against his body.

"I'm being silly, just all this girly emotion you bring out in me," she tried to find some humor in her voice, but it was laced with sadness.

"Sarah, you have more than served your country."

"You're just getting started though and the Intersect…. you've worked so hard, Chuck."

"Hey, I want you! I think we both know by now that there has to be a line and if it comes down to making a choice, I choose you."

"I choose you too," she kissed him again.

He let the kiss linger for a bit, his hands stroking along her bare back, her skin as soft as the silk of the chemise she wore earlier.

"I think I just need a little break, when we're done. A week or three alone with you."

"You won't get any argument from me. And if we do this right, if we get a break in this case, Beckman will surely give us some time."

"Possibly. The General doesn't seem like the vacation sort," Sarah laughed.

"Let's not talk about the General while we're naked," Chuck wrinkled his nose.

"Excellent idea," Sarah pushed Chuck on to his back and slipped on top of him.

"So, neither of us is sleeping now?" he arched an eyebrow at her.

Sarah shook her head, her hair loose and curly around her head looked so beautiful, her body shimmering in the tiny bit of moonlight.

The next time Sarah opened her eyes there was sunlight in the compartment and she was alone in bed. There was a small white box on Chuck's pillow and the bathroom door was closed. She looked at her phone and it was nearly 8:00 am.

Sarah sat up and retrieved the pale blue silk nightgown from the foot of the bed and slipped it on and that is how Chuck found her, cross-legged on the bed in her lingerie holding the small box.

"Morning," he smiled.

"Morning. What's this?" she held up the box.

"It's for you."

"You got me a present? I didn't get you anything," she pouted.

"I beg to differ," he sat next to her and leaned over to kiss along the silk edge of the chemise.

"Can I open it?" Sarah said excitedly.

"Of course, that is why I left it out for you," he sat back up to watch, hoping to catch her true reaction.

Sarah lifted the lid and inside the box lying on top of some cotton, was a small heart of Baltic amber set in silver and hanging from a chain.

Chuck saw a bunch of emotions flit across her face and when she looked up there was that love again.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

She just nodded, the lump in her throat was too much for words, so she nodded again. Sarah lifted it out of the box and let it dangle off her fingers. The sunlight caught the stone and made it brighter, refracted off of it. She held it out to Chuck and when he took it she lifted her hair off her neck. Chuck scuttled around behind her on the bed and fastened the clasp for her, kissed her at the nape of her neck and felt the goosebumps form under his touch.

"It's cheesy, I know, a heart. My heart," he grinned, "but it was so flawlessly beautiful," he reached out with his index finger and lifted the pendant from her chest, "like you."

She still hadn't spoken, but she crawled into his lap and wrapped her arms and legs around him tightly, pressed the heart between their two bodies.

"I love you, Sarah."

She nodded rapidly, she knew, she believed him with every fiber of her being.

***555***

Chuck and Sarah joined the rest of the teams in the lounge car of the train as they approached the station in Vienna. Everyone seemed to have had a fun night riding the rails and Jen appeared with clues for everyone prior to pulling in to the station.

First stop was the Vienna Opera House, one of the most famous Opera Houses in the world. Once the teams got there, by taxi, they had to find the Costume Shop and find a performer in full costume to receive the next clue.

Chuck couldn't help but notice the scowl on Sarah's face as they made their way through the Opera House.

"You OK?" he asked cautiously.

"Last time we were in an Opera House…." She let it go, but Chuck wracked his brain until he blurted out.

"Jill!"

"Got it in one. You kissed her on the stage," Sarah said as she glanced down at the stage below them as they weaved through the dress boxes.

"I think we can all agree I made a huge mistake falling for Jill again," Chuck grimaced.

"I know, it just hit me when we walked in here."

"What hit you? You sick again?" Mandy seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," Sarah smiled brightly.

"Oh, were you two fighting, did I interrupt something?" she seemed so disingenuously sorry that Sarah almost laughed.

"Not at all," Chuck assured her as he wrapped an arm around Sarah's waist and directed her towards the exit.

When they found the actor dressed in full jester regalia, he handed over the clue happily.

"Detour," Sarah read, "Light Brigade or Masquerade."

"First one we have to dress up like 18th century chandelier maintenance people and assemble a full chandelier and second one we go to a masquerade ball and waltz until we find the couple with the exact same masks as ours."

Chuck weighed the two options, neither sounded like tons of fun until it occurred to him….

"The second one!"

"You want to dance again?" Sarah grinned.

"The masks thing, I am really good at that, matching patterns and things. I loved puzzles like that as a kid," he smiled.

"Fine with me, I am never going to say no to dancing in your arms," she said, extra sweetly and kissed him soundly in front of Mandy.

"Ellie tried to teach me how to waltz when I went to prom. I assured her no one waltzed at proms, but she insisted. It was better than when Devon taught me to tango," he winked at Sarah.

"Ellie showed me your prom picture," Sarah said as they were given their choice of masks.

Chuck looked at all the masks presented and selected a pair he could really memorize.

"I am sure she did," he grumbled going back to the prom thing.

"You were adorable."

"If by adorable you mean a foot too tall for my date, then yes."

"She was a bit short," Sarah agreed.

Mandy and Molly had decided to waltz as well, which was a shock to absolutely no one.

Once down on the stage it was obvious this challenge was not going to be a breeze, there were easily 50 couples waltzing and the music was fairly up tempo which meant they were moving quickly. Chuck took Sarah in his arms and the couple joined the fray, as they were waltzing they noticed other teams join them and Mandy & Molly, even with the masks on the WC teams were easy to spot as the Opera dancers had gowns and tuxes on.

Chuck thought he spotted their masks, but noticed one quadrant of the woman's mask was different than Sarah's. They kept at it, taking several spins around the stage floor.

"You are pretty good at this waltzing thing," Sarah complimented as she kept her own form up.

"You are an excellent partner," he grinned at her.

Chuck looked super sexy with the mask on, Sarah wondered if they might be able to keep them. Suddenly, he turned her a little quicker than before.

"There, that couple," he tried to move them closer.

Finally, the music stopped and Chuck was able to tap them on the shoulder.

"Sarah?" he asked so she could look at his mask and then at the man he selected.

"Yep," she smiled.

"Will you come with us please?" Chuck asked.

"Of course," the couple bowed formally.

Chuck presented the couple to the WC rep who examined their masks and nodded before handing Sarah their next clue.

"Thank you," Chuck said to the couple as Sarah said the same to the WC rep.

Sarah was already moving towards the exit as Mandy & Molly approached with a couple for a mask check.

"Wiener Sangerknaben?" Sarah asked a cab driver, who nodded his understanding and Chuck & Sarah piled into the back of the cab.

"Where to?"

"The home of the Vienna Boys Choir," Sarah looked perplexed.

"What's wrong?" Chuck reached over and soothed a hand over her thigh.

"Chuck, I know you think I am super bad ass and everything, but I really cannot sing," Sarah sighed.

Chuck just laughed.

"What?"

"I know," he smiled.

"What? How?"

"I heard you trying to sing Sia in the shower when you stayed over at the apartment once."

"Oh no," she looked stricken.

"Don't worry, most people sing loudly and badly in the shower. I found it very endearing," he pecked a kiss on her lips.

"Why don't you seem worried?"

"Because I can sing pretty well," he shrugged.

"Really?"

"Yep, I even dabbled in musical theatre in high school."

"Huh. You are a constantly blooming flower, Chuck, just when I think I have you all figured out, there is another new beautiful layer," she kissed him again.

They pulled up to the Palace Augarten, where the Vienne Boys Choir lived and rehearsed, and Chuck paid the driver as Sarah tucked their masks from the Detour into her bag, those were coming back to Burbank with them.

As they entered the main foyer of the palace Sarah spotted a clue box.

"Roadblock," she said with visible relief, handing the clue over to Chuck.

"Who's a choir boy at heart?" he laughed.

"That was you even if this wasn't a singing challenge," she teased.

"Oh, I think I beg to differ. Would a choir boy have done what I did to you in that train compartment last night," he whispered seductively in her ear.

"Chuck…." She groaned.

"Just reminding you of how I…"

"I remember," she giggled.

"Good. I can replay it tonight if you need a refresher."

"I need you to do this Roadblock first, please," she said very calmly although the shiver that went through her was visible.

"On it," Chuck announced as he moved toward the doorway where the WC arrows pointed.

He presented the clue to the choir master who explained in very good English that Chuck would work with an instructor to learn a piece of music by Franz Shubert. The music was in German and Chuck needed to sing it with the choir and get the thumbs up from the very formal choir director to get the next clue.

"Wow, this is hard," Sarah lamented looking at the music.

"I can handle it," Chuck promised her.

They then had a whole conversation with her eyes where Sarah asked if he was going to use the Intersect and he said no, he could do this himself. Sarah found a chair along the back wall and listened as the choir practiced. Their voices were so sweet and relaxing that she let her eyes slip shut for a second.

Chuck went downstairs to a practice space with a woman named Alice. She sat at a piano and Chuck sat next to her and they worked through the music a line at a time.

Sarah startled when she felt someone sit next to her, it was Nancy. Adam was down with an instructor and soon Mandy joined them as Molly was down with an instructor.

"Making Chuck do another Roadblock?" Mandy asked with thinly veiled annoyance.

"He offered, he knows I cannot sing to save my life," Sarah said pleasantly.

"Me either," Said Nancy, her Boston accent even thicker than normal.

"Is this 3 in a row that Chuck has done?" Mandy was not letting it go.

"I guess," Sarah thought back, "Chuck and I don't keep a running tally. We're trying to play to our strengths."

"Chuck must have a lot more strengths than you do," Mandy grinned, but it was tinged with malice.

"Oh, that's for sure. He is better than me in a whole lot of ways," Sarah smiled dreamily and Mandy frowned that she was not getting under her skin.

"Sarah, I love your necklace," Nancy pointed to the amber heart.

"Thanks, Chuck snuck away in Gdansk and bought it for me, they are known for their Baltic amber," she gushed.

"How sweet," Nancy joined in on the gushing and Sarah noticed Mandy roll her eyes.

After about 20 minutes Adam was the first to appear and attempt the song. He did pretty well, but got totally tongue twisted and was sent back to practice some more. Molly appeared and her pitch was way off and she was sent back down, still no sign of Chuck who had gone down a few minutes before them. Sarah wasn't worried though, she knew he was getting it just right.

Another 10 minutes went by and all 3 of the them came up: Chuck, Molly & Adam all ready to give it a try, while many others had gathered and were just getting started.

Chuck was the first in the group, since he hadn't had a chance yet. He went over and said hello to the choir boys, who all smiled and said hello in English, he was winning over the crowd already. He put the music on the stand and raised it up a little so he could see it from his height.

Sarah moved to the edge of her chair and waited. Alice sat at the piano and began, the choir director conducting the boys in the background chorus as Chuck began to sing in perfect pitch, his voice steady and his German clear. He had perfect tempo, the boys behind him at the same tempo sounded perfectly in harmony.

When he finished all the boys in the choir applauded along with the WC folks watching, Sarah smiled so wide she almost burst.

"Very very good," the choir director smiled and handed him the clue.

Chuck thanked him and then went to high five every boy in the choir, he gave Alice a hug and headed back to a very pleased Sarah.

"That was amazing," she hugged him.

"I told you I could sing," he whispered in her ear.

"Good job, Chuck!" was the echo from all the team members as Chuck and Sarah moved on to the next location.

Sarah recognized the building on their next clue, it was the very famous Schonbrunn Palace, they were able to cab over there in no time. The problem was that once they got there there was no indication where the next clue was. The palace and the grounds were huge.

"We could be here all day," Chuck looked around.

"There's more to the clue," Sarah showed him the phrase in German.

He just shook his head at her.

"This place is a maze," she translated.

"Yes, yes it appears to be," Chuck looked at the vast expanse of lawn and palace in front of them.

"No, there is an actual maze, a hedge maze in one of the French gardens behind the palace, I bet the clue is there."

"I am in love with a genius," Chuck punched the air in victory, "let's go!"

Sarah just laughed at him and led the way through the gates. It was a lovely day, sunny and relatively warm, the grounds were crowded, but not mobbed and Sarah slipped her hand in to Chuck's as they strolled past fountains and well-manicured topiaries.

"This is amazing," Chuck said in awe.

"It is, I worked a mark here once," Sarah said quietly, "followed him all day, really got the lay of the land."

"I'm never going to get tired of hearing about your life, Sarah."

"This was not super exciting, I found out he wasn't a bad guy, just a college professor who really liked Austrian palaces. I wound up with a huge blister on my foot and a head cold," she frowned.

"Still amazing," Chuck protested.

"Not everything I've done is glamorous."

"I didn't say glamorous," he conceded, "I said amazing and you are, always."

"Thank you," she squeezed his hand.

A middle-aged woman waved at them and tried to say, 'Excuse me' in German.

"We speak English," Sarah smiled.

"Oh, how wonderful," the woman smiled back, "would you mind taking our picture?"

There was a middle-aged man nearby looking slightly embarrassed that his wife was harassing random strangers.

"Oh, sure," Chuck extracted his hand from Sarah's and took the camera.

The woman moved next to the man and put her arm around him, his hand came up on her shoulder as he leaned in to her side and they both smiled, with the beautiful palace behind them.

"What if we just shift a tiny bit, the light is a little strong here," Chuck suggested as he moved a little to the right.

"Oh, OK," the woman adjusted her position and her husband followed suit.

Chuck counted to three and snapped a couple pictures.

"Take a look, make sure I got a good shot," Chuck handed the camera back.

The woman nibbled on her lower lip as she flipped between the shots.

"Perfect," she declared, "you were right, the light is just perfect, thank you so much!"

"No problem at all," Chuck waved as they continued on their way.

"You are always so pleasantly helpful," Sarah said kindly.

"What's the option, being a jerk?"

"Not necessarily, but you have a knack for helping people and being instructive without making them feel like a moron. Remember the day we met?"

"Of course," he sounded offended that she thought he might forget.

"OK, do you remember anything other than meeting me?" she batted her eyelashes at him.

"Oh? Um…. your phone was broken, but probably not really, huh?" he laughed.

"Yeah, not really, but I was thinking of the guy with the video camera."

"Oh, the ballerina," Chuck smiled.

"I watched you make the guy feel OK about his mistake and coach that little girl through her second recital of the day, it was effortless, you just took control. I know things got really out of control for you soon after that, but that sense of order and calm you showed that day was part of how I knew you could handle this."

"I am certain I disavowed you of that certainty on more than one occasion," he grimaced.

"Well, you certainly were thrown in to some unbelievable situations awfully quick," Sarah soothed him, rubbing his arm tenderly.

As they rounded the palace, the hedge maze came in to view.

"Wow," Chuck's eyes bulged.

"It's pretty impressive," Sarah agreed.

They went in the entrance and Sarah tried to remember her last time here several years ago. She took a couple wrong turns, but after about 10 minutes they were coming out the other end, having not seen a clue box anywhere, but as they exited they saw a WC rep with an envelope in his hand.

"Hello, you two," Gavin smiled and handed them the envelope.

"Are we first?" Sarah asked as Chuck opened the envelope.

"I can't tell you that," Gavin narrowed his eyes at Sarah.

"Worth a shot," Sarah shrugged.

"See you at dinner," Gavin waved and Sarah knew that meant they were almost done for the day because the sun was slipping low in the sky.

"You are almost there, head to the highest point on the grounds for a look around," Chuck read.

"This way," Sarah took his hand again and headed towards another garden.

"I will go anywhere you lead, my lady," Chuck jogged to keep up with her.

Sarah led him up to the Gloriette, atop a hill on the grounds, the Gloriette provided a panoramic view of Vienna and gorgeous views of the palace itself.

"I know I keep saying wow, but wow!" Chuck caught his breath as he looked out.

"It is beautiful," Sarah wrapped both of her arms around one of his, leaned in to him and kissed his cheek.

"You two aren't done yet," Jen yelled from a few feet away.

"Oh, right," Sarah hopped to it and walked over to the finish point.

"Sorry to disrupt your canoodling, luckily since you are the first team to arrive you have plenty of time to look around before dinner."

"We're first?" Sarah feigned ignorance, she knew they were first.

"Yep, you guys seem to be our ringers," Jen smiled.

"Well, I certainly had the best partner for a singing challenge," Sarah praised Chuck.

"I heard you were fantastic, Chuck. That challenge hung up several folks – some of whom are still there," Jen informed them.

"For your first place finish you will receive a nice surprise tomorrow. Tonight, we are having dinner here at the café at the Gloriette and staying nearby in a hotel. You will have some time tomorrow to enjoy Vienna, so plan accordingly," Jen gave them the rundown and then left them to wander the palace.

***555***

Chuck and Sarah were sorry to hear that Alan and Zeke were eliminated, the choir boy challenge totally did them in.

"It was a tough challenge," said Adam who needed over 2 hours to get the German song down.

"Not for Chuck," Mandy gushed.

"I did a little musical theatre in high school," Chuck brushed it off.

"Does he sing for you, Sarah?" Erica asked as the teams chowed down on a delicious Austrian dinner.

"I was surprised as all of you," Sarah smirked and patted Chuck's knee.

"So, he never stood outside your window and serenaded you?" Molly teased and caught Mandy giving her a dirty look.

"No, although I live on the 23rd floor, so he would really have to shout," Sarah laughed.

"You don't live together?" Mandy saw a chink in their relationship.

"Not yet," Sarah popped a piece of bread in her mouth and smiled.

"That seemed like a hint, Chuck," Josh raised his beer in a toast.

Chuck for his part was kind of frozen at the idea of it, living with Sarah…. well, he practically was on this mission, but really living with her, every day. What would that be like?

When they reached the hotel room Sarah scanned it for listening devices, there were only 7 teams left, the Ring might start to get curious.

"Wow," Sarah called from the bathroom.

Chuck hopped up from where he had sat on the edge of the bed and went to see what she was reacting too.

"Is it?" he mouthed and pointed to the surveillance device, but quickly saw it glowing green.

"No, look at this tub," Sarah was practically vibrating.

Chuck shook his head with a laugh.

"Seriously, the tiny ship cabin and the private train compartment were great, but I am all over this bath tub."

"Are you now?"

"I am. Would you like to be all over me in this bathtub?" Sarah asked as she stripped off her shirt.

Chuck didn't need to verbally answer, he dove for her nearly-bare torso and tackle hugged her, kissing a sloppy trail from her shoulder to her ear where he just growled a response.

"Chuck!" Sarah squealed as she snaked her hands between their bodies to unbuckle his pants and lift his own shirt at the same time.

"Clothes off, clothes off," Chuck repeated himself as he pulled and pushed her in and out of his embrace as he needed to access various parts of her for kissing and disrobing at the same time.

When they were finally free of all the fabric and shoes and Sarah had kicked it all out of the way, she turned around and pressed her back to Chuck's front. Chuck used the position to lean down and kiss her neck again from a different angle.

Sarah moved them in front of the bathroom counter, a big mirror in front of them and she dropped down, her elbows resting on the counter as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked back at Chuck.

She knew he knew what she wanted and she could see the desire in his eyes, his bottom lip between his teeth, his hands gentle at her hips.

"Like this?" he finally asked.

"Yesssss…." Sarah answered and moaned as he didn't need any more permission to join their bodies together.

Sarah dropped her head, her hair blonde spilling over the black marble counter like a splash of sunlight, driving Chuck crazy.

***555***

"That was…" Chuck needed to catch his breath as he reached down to bring Sarah's limp body back against his, both of them staggering a bit at being upright.

Despite her own lack of breath, Sarah quickly turned in Chuck's arms and kissed him hard.

"We really need that bath now," Sarah smiled as she ended the kiss.

"Want your beer?" Chuck asked, they had both brought a beer back from dinner.

"Sure, I'll run the bath."

After they settled in the tub with their long limbs all tangled together, the beers in hand, Sarah spoke.

"Why have you never sung to me?"

"It's never really come up," Chuck shrugged.

"We could have had a karaoke date or something. Or you could have done a set with Jeffster," she teased.

"Oh please," Chuck groaned.

"I'm serious. I thought I knew everything about you."

"It didn't seem like the kind of thing you would be impressed by," Chuck said honestly.

Sarah nodded silently.

"I thought my shot at you was already in jeopardy from the nerdy things I couldn't hide. I didn't think musical theatre would really help my odds with the hottest woman on the planet."

"Sing for me."

"Here in the tub?" he chuckled.

"Yep, anything, even Fiddler on the Roof."

"I'll spare you my Perchik," he rolled his eyes.

After a couple of seconds of silence, he began singing Elton John's Good-bye Yellow Brick Road and Sarah was mesmerized by the smooth confident tenor of his voice.

"What?" he said after a verse or two.

"You greatly misconstrued my response to you singing," Sarah said as she shifted her body to Chuck's end of the tub and draped herself over him before kissing him soundly.

Later that night, Sarah was curled comfortable on Chuck's chest. She thought he was asleep from the even way he was breathing, so she was startled when he spoke.

"You didn't seem terrified at the idea of living together," his voice was calm and quiet.

"Chuck, I think it is safe to say we are not a normal couple, but a normal couple in our situation would certainly be considering it," she looked up into his heavy-lidded eyes.

"Does that mean you were just playing our cover?"

"I answered as I thought cover Sarah would answer, but I am not saying real Sarah feels differently."

"I think I understood that," he kissed the top of her head.

"We've been through a lot together, Chuck and all of this," she emphasized 'this' by running her hand down his chest to his hip and squeezing, "is amazing, but are we ready to live together in the real world? I don't actually know."

"OK."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I won't rush you in to that Sarah. I mean I live with my sister. At least I did, I hope I still have a place to live," he laughed.

"You did the last time I was there. Although Morgan used your room from time to time when Big Mike stayed over with Belonia."

"I know you are a very very independent woman, Sarah. It is incredibly sexy and intimidating," he grinned when she barked out a laugh.

"I've been on my own a long time," she said sadly.

"Well, you aren't alone any more. You haven't been for a while. I hope you know that," he titled her chin up so he could see her genuine answer.

"I know that," she stretched far enough to give him a sweet kiss.

"For what it is worth, I would love nothing more than to wake up with you in my arms every day."

TBC…


	9. Abu Dhabi P1

Notes: Thanks again to those of you out there still reading!

Abu Dhabi P1

Chuck woke up naked and alone. It was not a normal occurrence, having lived with his sister or in a frat house for most of his life, he had assumed an air of modesty. Even in the Jill days he would throw on at least a pair of boxers after sex just in case Bryce or one of the other guys came back and wanted to play video games.

This morning, in Vienna Austria, he was alone and naked.

He looked to the open bathroom door and quickly scanned the room and assessed Sarah was not actually there. He then rolled over on to her pillow, the sheets smelled sweetly of the rose-scented bubble bath from the night before and the slightest hint of something deeper and more natural that was their shared scent, the cozy scent of their bed.

When he rolled over his cheek crinkled against a small piece of paper.

"Back soon. S" with a heart drawn under it.

Chuck stretched in the big comfy bed and contemplated getting up, but the clock indicated it was only 7:30 a.m., they didn't have to check out until noon. He and Sarah had discussed some sightseeing options for the afternoon, but neither of them wanted to see anything more than the other person's body lately. Which made Sarah's absence kind of odd.

Before Chuck had a chance to worry any more though he heard the mechanic click of the key card in the door and saw the beautiful face of his girlfriend and partner holding a big bakery bag and a tray with 2 coffees in it.

Sarah looked like a college girl on a semester abroad, her black leggings and tee shirt with a light denim jacket paired with a simple ponytail and no make-up made her look exceptionally young and beautiful.

"Hey, you're awake," she smiled at him as he sat up against the headboard.

"Just now, I barely had time to miss you."

"I could go back out and wait in the hall a while," she grinned as she delivered him coffee and a kiss.

"Not necessary, I much prefer having you here. In fact, I would much prefer you back in bed with me."

"On it," she smiled as she deposited the bag of breakfast on the bed and toed off her sneakers and stripped out of her coat and jeans to leave her in a tee shirt.

"Much better," Chuck smiled as he sipped his coffee.

Sarah crawled on to the bed and sat cross legged, next to Chuck.

"I went a little over board," Sarah admitted as she unpacked breakfast, "but there is a little Viennese bakery around the corner that is the best in Austria."

"Well, you know I am hungry."

"True, I might not have gotten enough," Sarah laughed as she handed him a large warm soft something wrapped in wax paper.

Chuck unwrapped it to find a croissant with eggs and cheese that smelled delicious.

"Mmmmmmm," Chuck nearly drooled.

"This is my butter intake for the year," Sarah mentioned as she took a bite of her own breakfast sandwich, "but so worth it."

"So good…." Chuck moaned.

"Hey, you only make that noise for me," she poked him with her toe and laughed at the guilty look on his face.

"It is really good," Sarah admitted.

"So is the coffee," Chuck paused to drink a little more.

"Viennese coffee is the best," Sarah concurred.

"Do I want to know how much fat is in this?" 

"Probably not," Sarah frowned.

They ate in peaceful silence until all the crumbs of the croissant sandwiches were gone.

"What else you got?" Chuck clapped his hands together before reaching for the bag.

He removed the last item, a huge piece of apple strudel.

"You didn't get one for yourself?" he asked guilelessly.

"That's for both of us," Sarah flashed him her Agent Walker eyes and while it shot a surge of lust through his body he had to laugh at her intensity over baked goods.

"Fine, I'll share," he sighed dramatically.

"Technically, I am sharing with you, since I bought all this delicious breakfast at the crack of dawn on a chilly morning," Sarah kept adding to her tale of woe.

"I suppose you had to walk uphill both ways to get it," Chuck deadpanned.

"Be grateful, mister," she pinched his bare hip.

"I am," he said sincerely, "I am incredibly grateful every single minute of the day that I know you, Sarah Walker," he leaned closer and kissed her tenderly.

"That is very sweet, but you are still sharing that strudel."

Chuck managed to split the strudel with some effort and both of them devoured their share, the pastry melting on their tongues, the apples still warm and spiced perfectly.

"I'm so full of strudel," Chuck lamented as he licked his fingers clean.

"I know, need to lay down," Sarah groaned.

Chuck leaned back against the pillows, scooting down and opening his arms to Sarah who molded herself against him contentedly. They lay there silently, Chuck's hands rubbing mesmerizing circles on her hip under the hem of her tee shirt.

"Thank you for going out to get breakfast," Chuck murmured against the crown of her head.

"You're very welcome," she looked up and stretched a tiny bit to kiss him.

They lay there silently for hours, neither fell back to sleep, they just held each other in the quiet hotel room, soft sunlight filtering in through the lace curtains. Finally, around 10:00 am, Sarah stirred.

"We have to get dressed and back to work," she brushed some stray hair back and into her ponytail.

"Love you," he smiled at her sweetly.

"I love you too," she did, she loved him and it felt so good.

They shared the bathroom, Sarah showering while Chuck shaved, they met in the middle and Sarah kissed all over his freshly sheared face. Chuck then hopped in the shower while Sarah dried her hair and got dressed. They were down stairs a little before noon.

"No sightseeing for you two?" Josh was at the front desk checking out.

"We slept in," Chuck smiled, "you?"

"We were out late with some of the others drinking very strong Austrian beer, Erica is just starting to feel human again," Josh signed his slip and let Chuck take over at the desk.

"Oh no, is she OK?" Sarah asked as she took Chuck's bag for him while he checked them out.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. So, you slept in? I could've sworn I saw you in the lobby when I was going down to get some bottled water earlier."

"Yeah, I snuck out to a bakery to grab breakfast," Sarah said, curious that Josh had spotted her earlier and why he would challenge her.

"Oh man, the pastry around here is amazing," he smiled warmly, was Sarah over-thinking this assignment?

Chuck had their clue in his hand, the front desk clerk having handed it over upon check out.

"Airport at 2:00," he informed.

Josh held up his unopened envelope, "thanks for saving me the work," he teased and patted Chuck on the back, "need to go see if Erica is able to move."

After Josh left, Sarah watched the space where he had been for a bit, wondering if her Spidey senses were off kilter.

"You OK?" Chuck asked.

"Absolutely, we might as well just go to the airport now," Sarah looked at her watch.

"Fine with me," Chuck shouldered his bag and they stepped out to the cab stand.

Once ensconced in the cab Sarah spoke.

"I just got an odd vibe from Josh."

"Yeah?" Chuck turned to her to give her his full attention.

"Yeah, he saw me earlier when I went to the bakery, it's strange that he mentioned it. Couple that with you seeing him talking to Javier on the ferry a couple days ago. I don't know, it isn't anything, it is just a sense."

"I've learned you are rarely wrong, but I really hope you are this time."

"Me too," Sarah frowned.

***555***

When they got to the airport in Vienna there were signs leading them to the appropriate ticket counter. Chuck handed over their passports and explained they were a World Challenge team.

"Congratulations, Mr. Bartowski, you and Miss Walker have first class seats for this trip. 4:10 departure for Dusseldorf and then an overnight flight to Abu Dhabi," she printed their tickets and put them in a folder.

"Thank you so much," Chuck smiled and took all their paper work and stowed it away.

"That must be our prize for coming in first," Sarah smiled.

"Great for an overnight flight," Chuck agreed.

The duo wandered the airport, Sarah slipping in to a duty-free shop and buying a tiny bottle of perfume she loved and some good chocolate to indulge on the plane. Chuck bought a post card of the Vienna Boys Choir to remember this particular adventure and the two met up in the gate area to await the flight.

The first flight was short, only 90 minutes, so the first-class upgrade was kind of insignificant. When they boarded flight two though, the advantage definitely showed itself. Chuck and Sarah had a two person "pod" with fully flat reclining seats and full black out privacy screen. It had an entertainment center in it and a small private bar that was stocked nicely with food and drink.

"This is nicer than where I live," Chuck mentioned to the flight attendant who smiled.

"Don't let Ellie hear you say that," Sarah swatted him.

"Like Ellie could ever know about this," he said sadly and Sarah slid her hand down to squeeze his.

By that time other teams were boarding the plane and oohing and aahing over the first-class section.

"If you are not well-rested tomorrow we will all know what you did on this plane instead of sleeping…" Jake mentioned with a smirk.

Sarah looked slightly terrified for a second, then mildly disgusted and then she just slipped in to her seat without saying anything. Chuck got settled in and Sarah leaned her head on his shoulder and said quietly.

"We are not having sex on this airplane."

"Sarah, please, it's me…" Chuck blushed furiously.

"OK, just putting that on the table now."

"We can snuggle though, right?" he stretched out his long legs and sighed in relief at the space they had.

"Hardcore snuggling," Sarah agreed readily.

The flight attendant came back and went over all the amenities of their pod and brought them champagne and warm towels to clean up. She had a tray of fruit and cheese, a light dinner for the 9:00 pm departure she explained, but there was plenty of food if they desired more after takeoff. Breakfast would be served at 5:00 am if the pod was open or they could sleep through until 5:30 when it would be time to prepare for landing. The pod was insulated against sound to protect against snoring, the flight attendant winked.

"Thank you," Sarah smiled as she nibbled a piece of cheese and sipped her champagne.

"We're still not having sex on this plane," Sarah smirked as she saw Chuck processing the sound proof comment.

Once they were at cruising altitude, Chuck closed the pod and they both reclined their seats, they found a silly movie to put on the TV, but the focus was definitely on cuddling.

"This is the second time today I've been able to hold you like this," Chuck said thinking back to their lazy morning in bed.

"I like it," Sarah said quietly. "I like hearing your heart beat and feeling your breath," she laid a hand flat against his chest as it rose and fell.

"I could hold you like this forever. Don't get me wrong, I really like the sex thing, but I fantasized about this too you know. I would dream of just curling up with you on the couch and watching TV."

"Do you remember last year when I got the flu?"

"Sure," Chuck nodded, "you told me not to come near you so I wouldn't get sick, I had to spend 5 days with Casey."

"All I wanted was for you to be there and hold me like this in that big bed in the hotel. Feed me soup and watch old movies with me," Sarah admitted.

"You didn't even want me taking care of you on the ferry when you were seasick and we're together now," Chuck laughed.

"I know. I am a mess when it comes to letting people take care of me, but I was so sick with that flu I had fever dreams about you just holding me like this and I would wake up and you weren't there and it was crushing."

"I would have been there in a second if you asked," he kissed her forehead.

"I know," she assured him.

They laid there, his lips still soft and warm against her forehead and the plane rumbling gently beneath them and just before Chuck slipped into sleep Sarah spoke again.

"Chuck, do you want to read Ellie in?" it was barely audible it was so quiet.

Chuck turned and found Sarah's bright blue eyes in the dark.

"Is that possible?"

"It could be, there may be degrees of what she can know about…." she ran her hand through his hair, tapped a finger against his temple, "but if you are a real agent you have rights."

"Wow, I don't know. There is so much I would love to tell her, to account for my erratic behavior and now that Awesome knows. I mean I would rather tell her then have her find out like he did," Chuck reasoned.

"But…." Sarah knew there was a counter argument.

"She'd worry, all the time, and is that fair to her to have to live with that worry when I could spare her?"

"It is a hard decision."

"Your dad doesn't know what you really do, although he has some suspicions after the Lichtenstein thing last year. Did you read anyone in?"

"My mom," Sarah nodded.

Chuck's eyes went wide, Sarah had never once spoken about her mother, he had no idea if she was alive or dead. He didn't dare break the spell of the pod of secrecy they were in.

"I didn't have a choice, I needed her help. It is a long story and I'll tell you some day, but for now it is safer if you don't know," Sarah said, her face pinched in pain at not telling him everything.

"It's OK, I understand," he kissed the tension from her forehead.

"How did she take it?" he asked.

"Good, fine. She was proud of me, she was and I am sure still is, scared for me, but she loves and trusts me and Ellie feels the same way about you."

"Ellie doesn't know the guy you know. She knows a bumbling college failure who works at the Buy More," Chuck sighed, "she wouldn't believe I could do this without hurting myself."

"Ellie knows you Chuck, the real you, the smart brave kind and loving man who can do anything he puts his mind to. She is frustrated with that bumbling Buy More employee because she knows you are destined for so much more. This would not surprise her," Sarah promised him and sealed it with a kiss.

"I am not telling you to do it or not do it, I just want you to know that if you do want to read her in, I will stand by and help you and Ellie get through it."

"I love you," Chuck kissed her again.

"Always," she said against his lips before extending the kiss.

Finally, they settled in to a comfy position and drifted off to sleep. Sarah woke, shortly before 5:00, needing the rest room. She dislodged herself from Chuck and gently jostled him awake.

"Almost breakfast time," she whispered in his ear and felt him smile against her neck.

"You are so sexy," he laughed.

"Breakfast turns you on," she stretched in the pod.

"Well, sure, but I meant you whispering in my ear."

"You are very easy to please," she reached to slide the pod open.

"When you are the one doing the pleasing, I am in fact, very easy."

"I will let the early hour excuse the massacre of grammar in that last statement," she pecked his lips as she moved over him to get out.

When Sarah returned, Chuck had set their pod to rights, putting their seats back upright and stowing their blanket and pillows. There was juice and coffee on the table and Sarah could see the flight attendant delivering breakfast trays.

"Not as good as you delivering it to me in bed, but this isn't a bad way to travel," Chuck commented as they tucked in to breakfast.

Shortly after eating, it was time to land and Chuck and Sarah were off the plane quickly with the first-class position. It was very early in Abu Dhabi, but the sun was already warming the day. As they approached the cab stand they saw a clue box, Sarah ripped open the clue and flagged a cab at the same time.

"Sheikh Zayed Mosque Center," she read to Chuck and the cab driver.

"OK," the cab driver said and nodded.

"We needed to add some clothes," Sarah looked at Chuck in his shorts and tee shirt and her own capri pants and tank top.

"Huh?"

"We can't enter a Mosque dressed like this," she explained.

"Oh, of course," Chuck nodded and helped her sort through their clothes.

The cab was spacious enough to change and Sarah fashioned the pink sundress in her bag into a head scarf. She held it for a second and looked at Chuck who noticed the garment.

"I'm not giving this back, it was the first dress you ever took off of me," she smiled shyly.

He squeezed her knee now buried under 2 pairs of pants.

When they exited the cab, Chuck asked the driver to wait and as they passed through the gates of the grounds a man bowed to them allowing their entrance. Sarah had to think this would trip up some of the teams unfamiliar with Mosque customs.

They had no idea where they were to go once on the grounds and Sarah & Chuck were momentarily stunned by the enormity and beauty of the place.

"This is magnificent," Chuck whispered and Sarah squeezed his hand as she looked around in awe.

Finally, Sarah spotted a planter with flowers and a ribbon of the WC colors and tugged Chuck in that direction. It led them to a gorgeous atrium with a floral mosaic floor that seemed impossibly beautiful. There was Javier with a clue for them.

"Welcome," he smiled.

"Thank you, this place is amazing," Chuck said quietly.

"It is, I know you are in a race, but I highly suggest you look around before heading to the next sight. I shouldn't tell you this, but the next site does not open until 8:00."

Chuck looked at his watch and saw that it was not yet 7:00 and nodded his understanding. The pair wandered through the gilded halls and wondered at the seemingly endless sea of onion dome spires for 30 minutes before returning to their cab driver who had stayed.

Chuck rewarded him for his patience with a hefty tip as they travelled from the Mosque to the Suk indicated on their clue card. During the short ride, they shed their Mosque-appropriate clothes as the heat of the day began to press itself.

They had to wait 15 minutes for the marketplace to open and while they waited several teams caught up.

The next clue box was at a stall that sold fruit, Chuck bought them each an apple while Sarah read the clue.

"Detour: Sort it Out or Sew it Up – arrange an elaborate date tray, I assume they mean the fruit and not like a date date," she smiled, "Or assemble a traditional fishing net. I am a terrible seamstress."

"I imagine the date tray is a pattern thing, let's do that one," Chuck said as he polished an apple and handed it to her.

"OK, this is the vendor," she showed him the Arabic name and they ate their apples as they searched the large marketplace for the spot.

To say the date tray was elaborate was a bit of an understatement.

"There have to be thousands of dates on this thing," Chuck looked a little freaked.

They could walk back to the sample any time they wanted and they had to collect the right types of dates from the vendor's various bins.

"Who knew there were this many kinds of dates?" Sarah huffed out a breath.

"OK, it is a circular tray let's do it one ring each at a time. Count your ring and remember the date types," Chuck suggested.

Sarah just nodded and went about her ring, neither spoke for fear of messing up the other and at one point Sarah looked up and saw Chuck was ready, they nodded and headed out for dates. They checked and double checked their work as they went. Other teams went faster but every time they had their tray checked they were wrong and failed.

Finally, as Sarah wiped sweat from her forehead and drank the last of their water, nearly 2 hours after they started, having not said a single word to each other, Chuck spoke.

"I think it's right," he looked her in the eye and she smiled.

Sarah raised her hand and the vendor and his son came over to examine it. The vendor did not speak English, but his son did as he explained to Chuck and Sarah the significance of the tray and how it is used at a wedding to symbolize abundance and prosperity while his father counted.

After an agonizing few minutes, the older man smiled and produced a clue card from his satchel.

"Congratulations," he said.

"Thank you," Sarah accepted the envelope and everyone shook hands.

Chuck knew the sun was getting to both of them so he directed Sarah inside the Suk and found a cool shady spot and a vendor with water.

"You OK?" he asked as she guzzled the water.

"I am," Sarah promised, a couple hours in the hot sun was far from the most taxing thing she had endured, but she appreciated Chuck caring.

"Ready to move on?"

"Yep," she took his arm and squeezed.

The clue took them to the Al Bandar Marina where a string of luxury yachts awaited. Chuck & Sarah arrived at the same time as Kevin & Lucy so both teams were put on a yacht.

"I could get used to this," Lucy whistled.

"It is very nice," Sarah agreed as they took their seats at the back of the boat and took off across the harbor.

They docked on a small island and hopped off the yacht to find a clue box.

"Roadblock," Kevin announced, "Who wants to drop in on a hot lap?" he laughed.

"Well, I guess that would be me," he grinned.

"I'll do this one, you've done the last few," Sarah looked at Chuck.

"You sure?" Chuck raised his eyebrows at the wording.

"Yep, I got it," Sarah smiled a sly smile that made Chuck realize she knew what the clue meant.

Sure enough they were escorted to a Formula 1 race track.

"Sarah loves to drive fast," he laughed as Lucy found them seats near the pit.

It wasn't that simple though as Kevin & Sarah were led up to the top of the structure, 250 feet high. They had to zipline down to the track first.

"Ladies before gentlemen," Kevin offered and Sarah saw the slightest bit of fear in his eyes at the height they were standing on.

"You sure, we got to the clue box at the same time. We could rock, paper scissors for it," she grinned but had already started putting the harness on.

Chuck watched as Sarah ziplined down like a pro and got out of the harness and into a race suit in no time. She was disappointed to find she didn't get to drive, but of course that made sense, most people did not have the skills to handle a Formula 1 car.

The challenge was that as the car went rapidly around the course, Sarah had to read posted names and times of famous Formula 1 drivers. She had to figure out who had the best time and report the name and exact time at the finish line, if she got it wrong, she had to go around again.

Sarah got the answer on the first try, but she knew she & Chuck shouldn't win every round, so she purposefully gave the wrong answer, giving Kevin a chance to get it, but he got it wrong on the first try as well. Sarah gave another false answer and at this point she just wanted to ride in the car longer. Finally, Kevin got it right and Sarah followed suit.

Kevin and Lucy got to the podium just ahead of Chuck and Sarah making them the first-place team and Chuck & Sarah the second.

"Tonight and tomorrow night, we are staying here on the very opulent YAS Island, at the Viceroy, a 5-star hotel and spa. As the winners of this round, Kevin & Lucy you will receive a massage in the award-winning spa. You are welcome to go and take care of that prior to dinner, we will be eating as a group at 7:30. Chuck & Sarah, you are welcome to check in and enjoy the pool," Jen handed out key packs and pointed out the mini busses nearby to run them over to the hotel.

"Thanks," everyone smiled and headed over to the hotel.

"A prize I really need," Lucy grinned as she rolled her shoulders.

"It'll be nice to relax," Kevin agreed and held Lucy's bag as she boarded the bus.

Sarah smiled into Chuck's shoulder, happy to see them getting along.

Kevin & Lucy were whisked off to the spa as soon as they arrived and Chuck and Sarah dropped their bags in their room, scanned for surveillance, changed in to their swimsuits and headed for the pool. Sarah wore the pink sundress over her suit and enjoyed the swirly lust in Chuck's eyes.

They lounged and swam and had a drink and lounged and swam again.

"I didn't realize you were such a good swimmer. I knew you liked the beach, but I'm not sure I ever saw you swim before," Sarah mentioned as he swam up beside her.

Other teams had arrived, but they were the only two in the water.

"I love the water, always have, it was really the only kind of athletic thing I was any good at," Chuck shrugged and shook his wet hair all over her until she squealed.

"Dork," she tugged his chin towards hers.

"Nerd, I prefer nerd," he kissed her.

Dinner was out by the pool so Sarah just slipped her sundress on and Chuck added his tee shirt to his now dry bathing suit and they joined the crowd around the buffet. Sarah looked around the pool area, they were dwindling in size.

"Where are Adam and Nancy?" she asked Erica.

"They were eliminated, they never got the date tray right and by the time they switched to the other detour it was too late," she explained.

"Aww, that sucks, I liked them."

Everyone ate and drank happily, music started somewhere and Sarah noticed Kevin & Lucy flirting with each other and dancing – maybe that first-place finish was what they needed.

"Want to head up?" Chuck said when the crowd started to thin.

"Sure," Sarah looked up from her seat at the end of a chaise lounge and smiled.

Sarah couldn't remember the last time she smiled as much as she had these past few days with Chuck.

"Shower?" Sarah hooked a thumb toward the bathroom.

"Absolutely," Chuck agreed readily and watched as Sarah grabbed some clothes from her bag and stuck them on the vanity before starting the water.

Turned out it was a real get clean shower after the sweaty sweltering day in the sun and as Sarah brushed out her hair, wrapped only in a towel Chuck headed out to the bedroom swiping her clothes without her noticing.

"Did you take my…" Sarah stopped mid question as she saw the room lights dim and the bed turned down, a candle lit, "what's this?"

"I know you threw that challenge today, so I think you deserve the massage you should have earned," Chuck said as he indicated she should lie down.

Sarah just grinned and dropped the towel from around her body.

"Wow," Chuck stared.

"You were just in the shower with me," Sarah tossed the towel at him.

"The candle light is doing amazing things to your already glorious body," Chuck explained.

"Where did you get a candle?"

"Took it from downstairs," he shrugged.

"You've been planning this for a while?" she approached him.

"I have," he swallowed as she pressed her naked body against his towel-clad one.

She kissed him, her tongue quickly demanding entrance to his mouth.

"Mmmmmm," he moaned into the kiss, his hands scrambling for purchase on her smooth warm skin.

"You feel so good," he kissed toward her ear.

Just as he nipped at her ear lobe she turned in his arms and crawled horizontally across the bed. An audible groan from Chuck caused her to look back over her shoulder.

"This massage was your idea," she smirked.

TBC…


	10. Abu Dhabi P2

Notes: Thanks so much for the lovely reviews, it does in fact spark my desire to write.

Abu Dhabi P2

The look in Sarah's eyes as she glanced back over her bare shoulder at him was equal parts lusty and humorous. Chuck felt so happy, looking down at her long golden-skinned back, her lustrous hair.

"I did promise you a massage," he teased and reached over to the nightstand for the tiny bottle of lotion from the bathroom.

Sarah rested her head on her arms, eyes closed, body loose. She heard the snitch of the cap and the hiss of air as Chuck dispensed the lotion, heard his hands rubbed together, warming it up. She felt the dip in the bed as he put one knee beside her thigh and swung his other leg over to the other side. She felt the breeze created by his discarded towel. The lotion smelled of lavender and something sharper, verbena, she thought and her entire body shivered when his hands finally touched her.

"You OK?" he leaned down enough to whisper in her ear.

"Mmmm," she nodded.

He moved his hands over her with confidence and strength, she loved how strong and tender he seemed to be at the same time, the way he was when they made love.

She hissed when he hit a tight spot in her shoulder, but instead of stopping to see if he hurt her he leaned down and kissed her there, worked on the spot gently until his fingers felt it loosen and let go.

He was not wholly innocent, as he slid his fingers down her back, his long fingers teased the sides of her breasts and she heard his breath hitch with pleasure.

"You're good at this," she mentioned as he scooted down to knead the muscles in her legs.

"Your body is a work of art, Sarah, anyone could follow the definition of your muscle," he reached over and kissed her back, low near the hollow at the base of her spine.

They had only been having sex for a little over a week, but he could sense the shift in the room, the air charged, the sweet smell of her desire, the heat radiating from both of them. When he finished massaging her calves, she turned at the waist to look at him.

"Come here," she invited him to stretch out beside her.

The bed was big, wide, they could both lay across it horizontally with plenty of room to spare. Her hands were on him right away, stroking along his neck, down to his chest and back up into his hair. Her legs, now supple with lotion slid between his easily, her hip bumping his with intent.

"Massage over?" he grinned as her lips nipped at his.

Her eyes were so blue and bright they lit up the darkened room, flickering with more force than the candle he stole from the pool area.

She rolled him on to his back and stretched out on top of him, kissing him hungrily, but not doing anything further. Chuck had no need for complaint, he would hold her like this and kiss her for days.

"Make love to me," she finally asked, her voice quiet and strong.

***555***

A clue was slipped under their door the next morning. It told them to bring the bag of coins they had unearthed in Svolvaer for today's challenge and that they may want their swimsuits.

Sarah packed a small bag with their suits and flip flops and found the small drawstring bag with the coins.

"Wonder what they are for?" Sarah said.

Chuck shook them out on the desk and saw that one side had a number on it and the other a symbol.

"Same symbols on the bag," Chuck pointed out.

"It's a code," Sarah said unnecessarily as Chuck was already arranging the 5 coins in the order of the pattern on the bag itself, "but you already figured that out."

He then turned the coins over and they both memorized the 5-digit number.

"No idea what it is for," Chuck shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll find out after breakfast," Sarah kissed him and tightened her ponytail before heading for the hotel room door.

"Nice to be able to leave our stuff here," Chuck mentioned.

"I know, lugging that bag all over the world has been a pain," Sarah concurred and before she left she unclipped the butterfly from her bag and stuck it in her pocket.

If they searched their rooms while they were out there was nothing to break their cover in those bags except the surveillance monitor.

Breakfast was well under way when Sarah and Chuck arrived. The first thing Sarah noticed was Kevin & Lucy sitting very close and all smiley together, she pinched Chuck who yelped adorably, but then noticed what she had.

"Their massage must have been as relaxing as yours," he kissed her temple and grabbed them each a plate for the buffet.

"Good morning everyone, today you will be leaving here by car and driving yourself out to the dunes. There are cars for each team in the parking lot, marked with World Challenge ribbons. You will have access to the cars at 9:00 am. Directions to your first stop are on the dash. We are back here tonight, so you can leave your bags in your rooms. Have a delightful day!" Jen made her announcement and headed off.

Chuck glanced at his watch, it was 8:45 so he ate a little faster.

"I get to drive," Sarah said casually as she peeled an orange.

"I would never assume differently," he grinned.

Sarah tossed an orange rind at him, which he caught and put on his plate.

"Not nice, throwing food, Miss Walker," he chastised.

"You were snarking me."

"I didn't say a word."

"You snarked with your face," she giggled.

"What's so funny over here?" Erica joined them at the table.

"Sarah threw food at me."

"Not quite true, I through rubbish at you," she stuck out her tongue.

"You two are feisty today," Erica sipped her coffee.

"Sarah is a control freak who always has to drive. Luckily, I am a kind and patient man," Chuck explained.

"A kind and patient man who will be sleeping on the floor tonight," Sarah sassed back.

Chuck looked at her then and she got the message loud and clear, she could no more deny him entry to their bed then she could refuse water in the desert. She smiled back to let him know she was only teasing and she had to steel her body from the flutter that passed through it, this guy had totally undone her with one look.

"God, I miss the silly fun romantic days with my man," Erica said wistfully.

"Aren't you guys recapturing the romance on this trip. No kids…." Sarah hinted.

"Trying, but we are just tired all the time. We are not used to this kind of pace."

"Speaking of, time to go," Chuck shoved the last of his toast in his mouth, a corner hanging out.

They all got down to the parking lot at the same time, a few teams more eager than others, but all were stopped short when the cars were locked and there was no sign of keys.

"Keyless entry," Chuck said as he ran his finger along the handle finding the number pad.

He used the 5-digit number from the coins and the car popped right open. He noticed Doug and Jake got theirs open right away too.

"How did you do that?" Mandy hollered at him as he held the door open for Sarah to slide in the driver's seat.

"Magic!" he wiggled his fingers and jogged around to the passenger side.

"Great, now she thinks you're hot and magical," Sarah rolled her eyes as she started the car, turned on the AC and adjusted her seat and mirrors all at once.

"But, do you think I am hot and magical?" Chuck asked as he found the directions and started loading coordinates into his phone.

"I do," Sarah admitted with a resigned huff and a smile.

"Score," Chuck pumped his fist and mounted the phone for GPS on the dashboard.

They drove the long straight roads of Abu Dhabi, off the island and away from civilization a bit. Eventually they wound up out at some sand dunes, they parked the car and went to the clue box.

"Trade your sleek ride for an old-school dune buggy, follow the marked course to your next clue," Chuck read and they saw, over the crest of a hill a line of dune buggies.

"This day gets better and better," Sarah smiled.

They hopped in the buggy and Sarah acquainted herself with the strange gears and steering column. She cranked her on and let her run for a second, testing her on the harder sand of the parking area.

"We have to stay on the path, this gets into sand too soft and it will seize up, Sarah said and Chuck nodded.

Jake and Doug were right behind them and raring to go, they peeled out before Sarah could even hook her seat belt up.

The course was easy, Sarah kept the flags in sight and they coasted over the dunes, getting a little air on a few hills and bouncing around like goons. Chuck had his hands on the crossbar above their heads and a gleeful look on his face as Sarah maneuvered the buggy with relative ease. They saw Doug and Jake move past them having already received the clue, but Sarah was having so much fun she didn't care that they weren't in first place.

When they got to the clue box, Chuck hopped out and retrieved the envelope from the box. He read it quickly and tucked it safely in the Velcro pocket of his cargo shorts.

"Back to the car," he said over the roar of the buggy.

Sarah nodded and turned them back around. She retraced the course with ease, taking a few of the hills a little faster now that she knew the terrain.

"Hang on!" she yelled and saw the delight in Chuck's eyes as they bumped hard off one ridge.

"That was awesome!" he yelled back and they smiled at each other, Chuck reached out and pushed the stray lock of hair that always seemed to escape her ponytail back behind Sarah's ear, ran his thumb down her dusty cheek.

When they were just past halfway through they saw a buggy spinning its wheels slightly off course. It was Mandy and Molly.

"We should help them," Chuck said as Sarah slowed, finding the hardest pack she could to stop on.

The pair hopped out and waded toward the distressed team in much softer sand.

"Stop giving it gas!" Chuck yelled as they literally filled the buggy with sand as the wheels spun uselessly.

"Oh, thank God, Chuck!" Mandy pulled herself up by the cross bar so she was sticking up over the top of the buggy, her tight tee shirt cut so low Sarah wondered why she bothered putting it on at all.

Chuck looked to Sarah who was assessing the situation.

"You guys have flooded that thing, literally and figuratively."

"I tried to stay on course, but the wheel just kind of went this way and next thing I knew it was so soft we couldn't move forward," Molly was near tears.

"It's OK, but you aren't getting it out of there without a tow. Hop on the back of ours, we'll bring you back and see what the deal is, you can probably get another one and they'll come recover this one," Sarah shielded her eyes, even with her sunglasses on the sun was blinding.

"Thank you so much, Sarah," Molly got out of the buggy, sand all over her and nearly turned her ankle in the shifting softness of the dune.

"Here, grab my hand," Chuck offered Molly a hand and Sarah smirked when Mandy actually frowned.

"I'll help you, Mandy," Sarah offered with a saccharine smile.

Chuck tossed her a quick look, but kept his attention on Molly who made it to safety. Sarah helped Mandy, without incident and they got the two blondes settled safely in the back of their buggy. Sarah hopped back in the driver's seat and Chuck climbed on board as well and they were off.

Back at the finish Mandy & Molly hopped out, thanked Chuck & Sarah and raced over to the World Challenge rep to explain their situation. Chuck had noticed Kevin & Lucy return to the parking lot and head out which now put them in 3rd place.

The clue card directed them to the Al Ain Oasis in the heart of the city, it was truly an escape from the futuristic minimalism of Abu Dhabi, thousands of acres of palm trees created a cool quiet refuge amidst the hectic urban area.

"This is unbelievable," Chuck said as they wandered the tree lined paths, hearing nothing but birdsong and the shush of palm fronds.

"We've said that a lot here," Sarah was stunned by the natural beauty around them as she had been by the man-made beauty of the Mosque the day before.

Finally, near the end of one path Sarah saw an arrow that led to another and another until finally they found a clue box.

"Detour," she read, "Wedding Guests or Beauty Contest."

A smirk graced her lips at the 2 choices.

"With you on my team I would think Beauty Contest would be our best bet," Chuck said sincerely, "but I might bring down our median score."

"Oh, we aren't in the beauty contest," Sarah skimmed ahead, "In Wedding Guests we have to prepare a traditional ceremonial wedding banquet dish, gathering the ingredients from the Suk, preparing it and serving it to the guests. Beauty Contest is for a camel, we pick a camel based on the guidelines and dress it in ceremonial robes and finery and present it for judging."

Chuck pondered the options for a moment.

"Can we do the camel one?" Sarah asked.

"Sure, but can I ask why."

"I like camels," Sarah shrugged.

"OK then," Chuck accepted that and they headed towards the arrow with the camel sign under it.

There were a lot of camels. It was hot and there were a lot of camels. A World Challenge rep gave them the guidelines for the camel beauty contest, it was a lot like a human beauty contest, the focus on symmetry and style.

"I'll pick one, if you can go grab the stuff," Sarah hooked her thumb over to the racks of blankets, harnesses and jewels the camel would need.

"Sure, can I take this?" Chuck asked of the list which had very specific requirements on it.

"Yep, I know a good camel when I see one," Sarah promised and kissed him quickly before they split up.

Sarah wandered between the animals, looking at their legs and tails, finding a strong stable one to start with a long full tail. She narrowed it down to half a dozen and then began looking at them head on, she pet them and cooed to them, testing their temperament.

Sarah had dealt with camels before on missions in the Middle East and they were feisty, but she appreciated how hard they worked.

Chuck watched as Sarah moved amongst the huge animals with ease, her eyes bright as she petted them and assessed their patience. He selected several items for the camel to wear and lugged them all to the side of the pen. Sarah approached, still inside the pen and met him, the fence between them.

"This reminds me of helping Ellie buy a prom dress," Chuck grinned.

"Do not tell your sister you compared her to a camel, ever," Sarah leaned over the fence and kissed his cute face.

"Did you select one?"

"I think I have," Sarah called over a wrangler and walked with him to the camel she chose.

Chuck lugged the finery over to that side of the pen and they were assigned a stall to work in.

"Don't stand behind her," Sarah instructed and Chuck backed away a bit, looking over his shoulder, "she might kick."

"Got it," Chuck took another step back just to be safe.

"We have to make her feel safe," Sarah went on as she brushed her gently.

The camel seemed to settle down quickly under Sarah's grooming and soon she was able to get the bit and muzzle over her head without incident.

"You are like the camel-whisperer or something," Chuck watched in awe as Sarah helped him get the heavy, jewel-encrusted saddle on.

"I like animals," Sarah said honestly as she draped the blanket over the low part of the camel's neck.

"I, hmmm, I didn't know that," Chuck smiled at having learned something new about Sarah.

"Now you know," she smiled shyly, her real smile, her Sarah smile that he saw so frequently during this mission.

Finally, Sarah was satisfied with the camel and they called the wrangler back. He explained that one of them should mount the camel and the other hold the lead and parade the camel in front of the judges. Chuck gave Sarah a hand getting up on the camel and the animal turned its long neck around inquisitively to assess Sarah and then moved forward when Chuck tugged the lead.

Chuck could see Kevin and Lucy trying to get their camel to move and she stayed obstinately in the stall, going so far as to recline back on her hind legs in protest, but the camel Sarah picked, groomed was moving with ease and grace like the woman atop her.

When they were centered in front of the panel Chuck stopped and the camel halted as well. The judges murmured to each other and then made a hand gesture that the camel should turn around in a circle. Sarah gave her a little pat and Chuck walked her around in a circle. They wanted the camel to lay down and again Sarah patted her neck and Chuck crouched down pulling the lead gently downwards and the camel folded her long legs under her.

The judges applauded raucously and handed over the clue to their wrangler who handed it to Chuck. Sarah dismounted the camel, they thanked the judges and then returned the camel to her stall. Kevin and Lucy were still in their stall fighting with the camel.

"Just be gentle with her," Sarah advised as they walked past.

"She's a camel-whisperer, who knew?" Chuck added as they returned the camel to its rightful place and headed back to the car.

Turned out they didn't need the car though, but Chuck and Sarah stopped long enough to drink some water. Their next clue was at the Wadi Adventure park right in the Oasis.

"Who likes rapid transit?" Sarah read the roadblock.

The park had all sorts of water sports and courses to go through, a giant wave pool that looked a little terrifying and some ziplining through the date palms.

"I think I still owe you at least one roadblock, I can do this one," Sarah assumed it was some kind of adventure sport.

Chuck nodded his approval and they followed the arrows to a manmade white water rafting course.

"Cool!" Sarah hopped up and down when she saw it.

"Good thing you got that practice in back in Chile," Chuck smiled and leaned down to kiss her bare shoulder.

Along the course there were three spots where colored flags were suspended above the water, at each point Sarah would need to stand and balance and reach up to grab the flag. If she missed any of the three she had to run the whole course again.

Sarah didn't miss a flag, her core strength and her above average height almost made the challenge too easy. She feigned a little bit of clumsiness, but she completed the challenge on the first run, earning a high five from her guide and a kiss from Chuck.

"That was awesome," Sarah was practically vibrating from the adrenaline.

Their guide handed them a clue.

"You are team number two for the day, you are free to stay at Al Ain and enjoy as long as you like or drive back to the hotel and enjoy the amenities there. Dinner is at 7:00 pm," Chuck read.

"I say we grab our suits and check out some of the other attractions here," Sarah suggested.

"Absolutely," Chuck agreed and they headed back to the car to grab their bag.

They found a big sign near the entrance to Wadi Adventure with a map and list of all the attractions.

"This sounds like heaven," Chuck pointed to the map and Sarah smiled a big smile in return.

The lazy river, like everything in Abu Dhabi, was man made, but it was gorgeous and pristine, the tree canopy so thick Sarah didn't even bother with the sunscreen. They rented a small locker for their clothes and stuff and a giant rubber tube and entered the river at the main dock.

"It is yours for the rest of day, we close at 6:00 pm," the employee informed them, "there are beaches to stop at as well as food vendors if you are hungry, scan your wrist band and they will charge the card you used here, cash free."

"Excellent," Chuck smiled.

The water was a pleasant temperature, warm enough to get right in, but cool enough to be refreshing. Sarah could smell chlorine, but could also tell it was salt water, like the pool at the hotel. They started with their arms draped over the tube, their legs in the water, side by side. Sunglasses on against the slight dappled sun between the fronds they looked like a couple on their honeymoon.

The lazy river was not crowded, Chuck & Sarah never saw another WC team, the pairs either escaping back to the hotel or opting for one of the more adventurous choices at Wadi.

"I love this," Sarah said as they glided along, a slight current taking them through the twists and turns.

"It is incredibly relaxing," Chuck agreed twisting in the tube so his back was against the side of the tube, still next to Sarah.

They came around a corner and there was a small snack bar with lemonade and roasted nuts, Chuck hauled the tube up while Sarah hoisted herself out of the water and they got a snack and found to chairs in among the flora and fauna.

"I feel like we are all alone out here," Chuck said as he finished his drink and rolled on his side to face Sarah.

"It does feel like a true oasis," she agreed with a kiss.

Despite the shade, it got warm and soon they hopped back in the water, waved to the food vendor and proceeded along. Sarah noticed small lizards that scurried out from the rocks and trees, the birdsong so loud she almost missed it when Chuck pointed out bush fully engulfed in the most gorgeous red flowers Sarah had ever seen.

Another bend in the river brought them into a big pool, the current slowed and there was a tributary off one side, but Sarah stopped their progress, slipping out of the tube for a moment and swimming the width of the pool. Chuck tucked the tube under a shrub and joined her in a swim. He swam the length of the pool underwater and emerged right next to her, her delight clearly written on her face.

Chuck pulled her close, their wet bodies sliding deliciously as he kissed her deeply and with purpose. It was the kind of kiss Sarah could get lost in if she was any other woman, but she was Sarah Walker and she knew that such public displays of affection were frowned upon here.

She slowed the tenor of the kiss down, cooling the heat that seemed to flare so easily between them lately…. or always if she was honest.

"We need to save that kind of kissing for the privacy of our hotel," she smiled at him, a slight blush spread across her cheeks at how easily she could be turned on by him.

"I know, I couldn't help myself, you look so gorgeous with your hair all slicked back and that bikini, my God Sarah you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," Chuck said honestly, his hands still at her hips under the water.

"Cuter than our prize-winning camel," she teased as she escaped his grasp and swam back to where he stashed their tube.

Chuck just laughed and swam after her. She climbed up on the tube and lay across it, her head dangling off one side and her feet the other, face up to watch the trees pass overhead. Chuck swam along and led the tube towards the outlet of the pool and back into the current.

When they got to the next pool he thought Sarah might have fallen asleep, she had been quiet as they moved along the lazy river, Chuck swimming or holding on gently as she reclined in the tube. He released the tube and let her float in the pool and noticed a small smile creep on to her face, she was playing possum.

Chuck circled the tube underwater, Sarah could feel him and knew what he was going to do before he did it. She could have stopped him and she was tensed against his attack, her stomach taught in anticipation when he came up hard and flipped her off the tube. Despite her awareness, she still yelped as she flipped in to the water, her body warmed on top of the tube and the water was cool.

"I will get you, Chuck Bartowski," she tried to sound menacing, but she was laughing too hard as she came up from underwater.

"I'm all yours," he said truthfully, standing in the water, his chest and shoulders a little bit red from the dappled sun.

"Yeah you are," she said sweetly and for a second he thought she was lulling him in to a trap, but as she approached all she did was wrap her arms around him and hold him tight.

***555***

Chuck & Sarah got back to the hotel about 30 minutes before dinner and as they approached their room Sarah felt something vibrate against her hip. Reaching in to her pocket she felt the small butterfly charm from her bag buzzing against her finger tips.

Very subtly she took Chuck's hand, the one she was holding and slid it in to her pocket. He gave her a quick look and as soon as his fingers identified what was there the message was clearly received, they were now under surveillance.

Sarah opened the door and spoke at the same time, "I need a shower so bad."

"It was a hectic day," Chuck agreed.

"Care to join me?" Sarah put enough seduction in her voice to sound normal and she tilted her head towards the bathroom.

"In the shower, well, I guess," Chuck was jokingly coy, but his eyes never left Sarah's.

She turned the water on and they stripped out of their clothes quickly. He kissed her and she squealed as they stepped in to the big glass stall shower. Sarah started washing Chuck's hair, killing two birds with one stone.

"Did you understand the code?" she asked quietly in his ear.

He nodded and she knew he now understood that there was audio surveillance on them. The CIA had different Morse code patterns for audio, video or combination surveillance and the pattern Sarah felt from the butterfly was audio only. For now.

There was no huge cause for alarm yet, all they knew was they were under surveillance, there was no indication their cover was blown. Hopefully this meant the Ring was considering them for recruitment or they had just made it far enough in the game that everyone was now being considered.

They finished their shower as if nothing had changed and dressed for dinner while chatting about their fun afternoon at Wadi, whoever was listening should be none the wiser. They got down to dinner shortly after 7:00, Chuck grabbed drinks for he and Sarah as Sarah found a spot at a table.

"Thank you, for earlier today," Molly appeared out of nowhere.

"It was no problem; did you guys get another buggy?" Sarah asked as Chuck sat next to her and handed her a drink.

"Thanks, babe," she leaned over to kiss him.

"We did, I stayed on course better and we got through it," Molly swiped a hand across her forehead in the universal symbol for close call, "you guys were real life savers though."

"Yeah, Chuck, we would have been toast without you," Mandy joined her partner.

"Sarah is the dune buggy expert, I just helped Molly out of the vehicle," Chuck deflected the praise.

"Yeah, thanks Sarah," Mandy smiled with extreme effort.

"I'm glad you guys finished," Sarah sipped her drink.

"Who got eliminated?" Chuck looked around the tables at their reduced numbers.

"I haven't seen Doug & Jake or Josh & Erica," Molly said as she picked at her food.

"Doug & Jake were ahead of us, I think," Sarah said with an arched eyebrow and as soon as she said their names they appeared.

"Oh no," Chuck looked conflicted.

Sure enough Jen appeared and announced that Josh & Erica had been eliminated. Sarah and Chuck each wanted to talk to the other about what that might mean, were their suspicions for naught, were Josh & Erica just regular folks.

"I'll miss them, I liked them," Sarah said honestly as she looked at Chuck.

"Me too," Chuck squeezed her hand and she knew in that moment that he too had conflicted feelings.

"We're in the final five," Mandy held her hand up for a high five and no one slapped it.

"What? It's exciting," she said lamely.

Sarah looked around at the last 10 contestants: Mandy, Molly, Doug, Jake, Kevin, Lucy, herself, Chuck and Dan & Cassie who she barely knew. Were some of these people with the Ring? Was it World Challenge staff? Or was this whole thing a dead end, as she sipped her drink she realized they were no closer to an answer then they were on day one.

Sarah did know one thing though; her & Chuck were light years ahead of where they were when this started. They were together, they were in synch and they were ready for whatever came next.

"I love you," she said quietly as she leaned in to kiss him.

TBC…


	11. Indonesia P1

Notes: Sorry for the delay on this installment, I had a super crazy couple of work weeks 😊

Indonesia P1

"I love you too," Chuck smiled at Sarah as the kiss ended.

Realizing they weren't alone, Chuck cleared his throat and got back to eating dinner, but the moment was significant. Sarah was not playing cover, she was not even trying to piss off Mandy – although to be honest it was an added bonus, she just wanted to remind him that this was a thing they did now – declaring their love and kissing in public, for real.

The pair made conversation all through-out dinner, but both had their minds on the listening device in their hotel room. Chuck wanted nothing more than another intimate night in this hotel with his very hot girlfriend, but there was no way he was having sex with her on surveillance.

"OK, one last announcement and then you can party," Jen stood on a chair.

"We are leaving Abu Dhabi tomorrow, I won't tell you where we are going just yet, but we will be leaving the hotel at 8:00 am sharp, be packed and in the lobby. Enjoy the rest of your evening," she hopped off the chair as Javier started up some thumping dance music and lowered the lights.

"Let's dance," Chuck suggested suddenly and pulled Sarah out to the dance floor where the other teams were bouncing around.

The group danced for an hour, the heat of their bodies no match for the hotel air conditioning. When they finally got back up to their room Chuck headed for the bathroom.

"Wow, I worked up quite a sweat on the dance floor," he said casually and flicked his eyes towards the large glass shower stall.

"Are you trying to get me wet and naked again?" Sarah teased, playing along.

"Whenever humanly possible," Chuck said honestly.

"I'll be right in," Sarah smiled.

Chuck headed to the shower and started the water, the shower had 4 different shower heads that had different pulsing settings and he fiddled to find the loudest possible combination to interfere with the surveillance equipment.

Sarah surreptitiously went through her bag looking for a tee shirt to sleep in, but running the surveillance scanner again, she palmed it in her hand and moved around the room making sure nothing had changed during dinner. Finally, she joined Chuck in the steamed-up shower stall.

Chuck was actively washing up, his sweaty excuse a very real one. Sarah took the wash cloth from him and lathered it up again, but before she could use it he took it back and moved it over her skin tenderly. He stood behind her and leaned down to kiss her neck.

"Anything new?" he asked quietly.

"No, same as before," she said referring to the surveillance.

Chuck just nodded and dotted a few more kisses along her neck.

"The elimination," Sarah said quietly as she turned in his arms and wrapped herself around him.

"Still thinking about it," he noted the confusion they both felt in Josh & Erica being out of the game.

"Doesn't prove anything either way," she said, her lips against his ear moved to slip his ear lobe into her mouth with a whimper.

"Mmmm," she wasn't sure if Chuck was agreeing or reacting to her tongue swirling around his ear.

"Bed, now," Sarah said as her hands slid along his wet back.

"No," Chuck gasped as she squeezed his ass and pulled him closer, "here."

He encouraged her to look at him and she saw the compassion in his eyes.

"I don't want them to hear," he said shyly.

"We'll be quiet," she kissed him softly.

"Unlikely," he smirked and she pinched his butt.

"If we, you know, here…" he indicated the shower with a slight blush, "the bug will pick up enough vague noise that anyone listening will know what we're doing, but it won't be so clear they can actually understand."

"You are very sweet," she kissed him again.

"I want to have sex in the shower, that hardly seems sweet," Chuck growled into her ear and felt her shiver.

Before Sarah had a chance to really think about it further Chuck hoisted her in his arms and pressed her back against the cool tile of the stall. The sensation of the tile contrasted with Chuck's hot wet body moving against her front and the warm wet steam that swirled around them.

He moved a hand along her thigh rhythmically until she tilted her head back and cried out for him to get on with it.

"Bossy," he teased.

"I'd like to finish before the hot water runs out," she sniffed and then smiled when he did indeed get on with it.

Sarah wasn't sure what it sounded like on the surveillance, but the sound in the stall was intoxicating, their voices echoed as the tempo of their wet bodies increased in speed and sound until finally Sarah yelled Chuck's name and he cut it off by capturing her lips in a searing kiss, pouring his own declarations of love and lust in to her.

The water was still quite hot as Sarah rinsed off, her legs a little wobbly under her. Chuck looked her in the eye and gave her the most deliciously satisfied smile before he reached past her and turned off the water. He grabbed them each a towel and they dried off quickly.

"You can invite me in to your shower any time you want, Chuck," Sarah said for the surveillance's benefit as she moved into the bedroom and flopped on to the bed in nothing but the damp towel.

"If we do end up living together we are getting a shower like that one," he agreed with her assessment and stretched out on the bed next to her.

"I am sufficiently clean and relaxed now," she crawled over to curl against his side, his body still warm from the water.

"It's almost 1:00, we have to be up and out in 7 hours," Chuck observed.

"We should sleep, who knows what tomorrow has in store."

Chuck peeled the towel off her body and tossed it and his own back towards the bathroom as they slipped between the sheets. Sarah turned on her side, her back to Chuck and he molded his front to her back, pulling her in tight, his hand tracing lazy patterns on her stomach.

"I love you, baby," he kissed her temple.

***555***

The last 10 World Challenge participants loaded on to a mini bus the next morning, saying good bye to Abu Dhabi and heading for the airport. Once they pulled away from the hotel Jen got on the microphone.

"Good morning gang, we are heading to Bandung Indonesia next!" a murmur of interest rippled through the crowd.

"We have quite a journey ahead of us, over a full day of travel. We are all on the same flight to Jakarta this morning, it is a 9-hour flight with a 3-hour time difference, so we will get in around 11:00 PM. We will spend the night in Jakarta, there are hotels near the airport if you wish to get a room or you can camp out in the airport. Getting from Jakarta to Bandung is up to you, there are many different options. There is a travel agency at the airport that will assist you in securing flights, obviously the better the flight the better your advantage, good luck!"

Chuck could see the gears working in Sarah's head, she was trying to figure out a good route to Bandung and a good plan for getting them some private time without surveillance at the same time.

Chuck & Sarah were in a four-seater row with Kevin & Lucy for the 9-hour flight. Shortly after take-off, Chuck realized the entertainment system had video games and asked the flight attendant for a couple of controllers.

"Kevin, you play?" he wiggled the controller across the row.

"A little," he nodded and before anyone knew what was going on Sarah and Kevin were swapping seats and the 2 boys were engrossed in a game, ear buds in to mute the noise to the rest of the plane.

Lucy was reading a magazine she had already read twice and she closed it with a sigh.

"I feel like I have read all the crappy magazines and watched all the cheesy airplane movies. This trip has been awesome, but I am kind of sick of planes," Lucy frowned.

The flight attendant came around to serve drinks and Sarah bought them each a glass of wine.

"It's almost noon," Sarah shrugged and Lucy took the wine with a smile.

Chuck threw her a feigned look of shock as he got his Coke and she raised her wine in a faux toast.

"So, you and Kevin seem like you are getting along better," Sarah said conversationally as she sipped her wine, which was surprisingly good for an airplane.

"We had sex," Lucy said quickly and quietly her eyes wide.

"Was that a good thing?"

Lucy laughed and Sarah corrected herself.

"I don't mean was the sex good, although I hope it was, but was it a good thing for the 2 of you, for your relationship?"

"Sometimes sex makes things more complicated, I know, but sometimes it just puts all your cards on the table, you know? You are legitimately naked in front of another person, physically and emotionally and if you take the time to really look at the person, warts and all, you see them for their true self."

"Wow, that is profound and true," Sarah tapped her plastic cup of wine against Lucy's.

"I told him this was the last first time we had sex. Either we walk away from each other for good after this or we stay together, but I am not doing this 'will we/won't we' thing anymore."

"I totally get that," Sarah nodded and she wasn't lying.

"Well, I mean you and Chuck are perfect together," Lucy scoffed.

"Not always though, we played games at the beginning. We broke up a couple times, tried to see other people, but we just kept getting thrown back together."

"Really? You seem like high school sweethearts who have been together for ever."

"Nope," Sarah shook her head.

"You worked it all out though?"

"We did, just like you said, we really looked at each other and decided this was what we wanted. Relationships, no matter how good they appear, are hard work, they require commitment and dedication."

"Yeah, that was the part Kevin & I were bad at. We could hang out and we're great in bed, but when things got hard we couldn't rely on the other one. It was both of us though, we both made mistakes and we realize it now," Lucy poured a little more wine from the bottle into her cup.

"So how was the sex?" Sarah teased as she waved to the flight attendant for more wine.

A couple hours later, Kevin and Sarah switched seats again and Sarah raised the arm rest to snuggle against Chuck's side.

"Are you drunk?" he teased as she kissed his chin.

"No," she promised.

"Want to watch a movie?" he found her ear buds and let her pick the film from the seatback screen.

***555***

As soon as they landed in Jakarta, Sarah went to the ladies' room and pulled out her cell, she called the travel agency from the stall and negotiated the best possible set of flights she could. She met Chuck outside the rest rooms and they walked over to the agency, which was closing in 5 minutes and got their tickets for the next morning. The other teams were trying to talk the agents into staying late, but they were told in no uncertain terms to come back in the morning.

"Nice work, Miss Walker," Chuck smiled as he pocketed the tickets.

"Took a chance they were open until 11:00 for the overnight flight crowd," she shrugged.

She then scanned the hotel information at the travel center near baggage claim and picked the most expensive spot.

"Hopefully no one will think to look for us there," she memorized the address and headed out to the cab stand.

Chuck & Sarah never saw another team and as they checked in to the Royal Grand hotel, Sarah pulled out $500 cash to pay for the room. They were off the grid for the night. Sarah did her due diligence in scanning the room. For all Sarah knew, The Ring had agents at every hotel in Jakarta, but the butterfly glowed green, no surveillance.

"We have the whole evening to ourselves," Sarah said as she flopped back on the bed.

"What time is our flight?" Chuck asked as he pulled the tickets out of his pocket.

"Late morning?" Sarah asked as she leaned up on an elbow.

"Yep, 11:10. We can even sleep in a little," Chuck waggled his eyebrows.

"Come here," Sarah crooked a finger at him and he sat on the end of the bed, where her knees hung over the edge.

Chuck took her legs and swung them over his lap and scooped her body up into his arms as if she weighed nothing. He kissed her gently, a hand in her hair.

"You are the sweetest," she kissed his cheek.

Chuck gave her a puzzled look.

"Last night, it was very sweet that you didn't want the surveillance to hear us," she tilted his chin so he was looking in her eyes, so she knew exactly how much it meant to her.

"I know we are playing a cover, but this is us, Sarah. When you are in my arms, when we are together like this I want to know you are free to do and say whatever you want. I don't want you to be on guard, I don't want you to censor what you say…" he kissed her again, "or what you do."

"You know what I want to do right now?" she smiled widely, her teeth showing.

Chuck rolled her underneath him and she blinked as she looked up at him.

"I want to take a shower," she said innocently.

Chuck laughed, it was bright and happy.

"We've been on a plane all day, I want to crawl in to this bed nice and clean."

Chuck just nodded and stood up, he held his hands out and she took them, he pulled her to her feet and closer still, kissing her again.

The shower was quick and perfunctory, a get clean shower with no extracurriculars. When they got out, Chuck dried off quickly before shaking out a towel for Sarah. He dried her body with a slow strong hand that was raising goose bumps on her skin.

"You cold?' his voice was deep and quiet.

"No," she looked down as he kneeled in front of her to dry her legs.

"You are so beautiful," he met her eyes.

"Bed, please," she said sweetly.

Chuck stood from his spot on the floor, dropped the towel in his hand and the one around his waist and picked Sarah up in his arms. He negotiated the door frame without whacking her head, but then nearly tripped over his discarded shoes.

Sarah squealed, but Chuck kept his balance before tossing her on the bed and watching her bounce with glee.

"You threw me!" she accused.

"I did. You looked pretty good when you bounced," he nodded and crawled across the bed towards her.

She laughed louder when his fingers found her sides and she scrambled out from out of his reach.

"Goof," she threw a pillow at him.

"You make me goofy with lust and silly with love," he admitted as he took the pillow and curled it under his head.

"Do I?" she asked, although she knew the answer.

"Yep," his eyes were sparkling.

"Come here," she called him close again and this time when she kissed him there was no more talking for a while.

***555***

When Sarah woke up the next morning she could smell coffee.

"What time is it?" she stretched and her bare torso emerged deliciously from the soft sheets.

"7:00," Chuck approached with a cup of coffee and a covered plate.

"How long have you been up?" she took the coffee eagerly and sipped.

"An hour. I got hungry so I used the phone in the bathroom to call room service, so I wouldn't wake you, then I waited for it in the hall so he wouldn't knock," Chuck curled a leg under himself and sat next to Sarah.

"You are too good to me," she kissed his stubbled cheek.

"You looked so peaceful and I really wanted to use a bathroom phone," he reached over and pushed a tangled curl behind her ear.

Sarah looked around suddenly, realizing the room service tray was in the room.

"I scanned it," he quelled her fear.

"Good, thanks."

"No one knows we are here. We have a couple hours until we have to get the shuttle back to the airport."

"I've been thinking about the case," Sarah said as she uncovered her breakfast and speared a piece of fruit. "I think we just have to play the game. Complete the challenges, act like we are just here for fun and let the cards fall where they may. I let Josh get in to my head and it is dangerous."

"I agree, but the challenges are going to get harder and with fewer teams we will have to work to make sure we aren't eliminated now."

"True, our odds drop with each elimination. Eye on the prize and no unnecessary risks. We are cover Chuck and Sarah at all times, luckily we know cover Chuck and Sarah very well and they love each other just like we do," she leaned close enough to kiss him, her tongue cool from the melon and his warm from the coffee met in a spark of contrast.

"Speaking of our cover, we should check in with Ellie," Chuck said as the kiss ended so Sarah could return to eating.

"Yes, maybe we can take a pic by that cool fountain in the lobby, tell her we snuck away for a couple days," Sarah suggested and Chuck nodded his agreement while he stole some food off her plate.

When the plate was cleared and breakfast was over, Chuck returned to the bed and stretched out next to Sarah.

"So, the surveillance…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, so as long as the surveillance remains audio only I think we should be ourselves and cover Chuck and Sarah alone in a hotel room, just like real Chuck and Sarah, will be having sex. It might even seem suspicious if we aren't, like we are playing a cover and not a real couple."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

"Your idea of working up a sweat on the dance floor and taking a shower last night was perfect, but we can't keep that up."

"Maybe we can put some music on or something," Chuck shrugged.

"Yeah, definitely and the second there is visual surveillance I will play sick or something," Sarah soothed a hand over his neck.

"There is no surveillance right now," Chuck mentioned with feigned casualness.

"Have your way with me," Sarah said with a straight face before dissolving in giggles.

***555***

Two short flights later, Chuck & Sarah were in Bandung Indonesia and it was hot at 4:00 pm in the evening. When they got to the cab stand the clue box was there and based on the number of clues Chuck and Sarah were in the lead, they hadn't seen another team since changing planes in Surabaya.

"Your next clue is where the RAMS butt heads," Sarah read and showed it to the cab driver who smiled and nodded.

Chuck googled Bandung and RAMS and found they had a local rugby team by that name so when they saw a stadium in the distance he felt confident the cab driver was taking them to the right place.

Sure, enough they jogged around the perimeter of the building and found a clue box being manned by a good looking young rugby player.

Sarah took the clue out and smiled at the guy, who seemed flustered by her.

"I know how you feel," Chuck said when the kid looked at his shoes instead of at Sarah.

"Detour: For the elephants or for the birds," Sarah read.

The first involved gathering some produce and feeding an elephant and the other was to train a pair of love birds for a singing competition.

"The first one sounds more physically demanding, but I have no idea how to train birds," Chuck weighed the options.

"And the first one involves elephants," Sarah said with a big grin.

"Elephants it is," Chuck agreed and they jogged back to their cab.

The elephant sanctuary was a short ride away and there they were given a wheeled-dolly to bring to the produce mart. They had to get 8 watermelons, a bushel of sweet potatoes, a stalk of bananas and a dozen stalks of sugar cane.

Chuck was right, it was arduous work, easily a mile between the mart and the elephant sanctuary and the dolly wasn't the right shape for produce, many items falling off and rolling away, but Sarah was strong and she managed to carry a bit while Chuck kept the cart balanced.

When they finally got to the elephants Sarah stacked all the items neatly for inspection, the keeper confirmed they had brought everything from the list.

"So now you present them to the elephant, she is very gentle. You can get to know her first," the man explained in strained English.

Sarah took Chuck's hand and walked over to the elephant.

"Her name is Leia," the man explained and Sarah's eyes went wide as Chuck grinned.

"I like her already," Chuck laughed.

"Hello, Leia," Sarah cooed as she patted the elephant's trunk.

Sarah had spent time with elephants when she was on assignment in Thailand a few years ago and she couldn't get enough of the majestic, peaceful creatures.

"You are so beautiful," she actually leaned in and put her cheek against the elephant's side.

"You are loving this," Chuck said as he came up beside her and rested one hand on the small of her back and the other on the elephant.

"They are so smart and strong," Sarah said with awe.

"So, you felt a kinship?" he smiled.

Sarah nodded and led him back to get the food. Chuck started with the sugar cane, it was long and he could hold it out to the elephant without getting too close to the eating process. Same with the bananas, which Sarah held by the stalk and laughed as Leia ate them peel and all.

"Not very discerning," Chuck laughed again as the elephant chewed.

Sarah moved the bushel of sweet potatoes in front of her and Leia vacuumed them up in a flash. All that was left were the watermelons.

"How do we do the watermelons?" Sarah asked the keeper as she pointed back to the 8 large oblong melons.

"Bring them right to her," he held his arms out to mime carrying a watermelon.

Chuck looked mildly panicked, yet he still took the first watermelon and approached the elephant. The elephant assessed him with her large gentle eyes before reaching down with her trunk and curling the melon towards her mouth.

"Good work, Chuck," Sarah cheered with visible glee as she saw the joy in Chuck's eyes.

They made short work of the remaining watermelons and the keeper congratulated them and handed them their next clue. They found a cab to take them to the local amphitheater.

"That was so much fun," Chuck leaned his shoulder against Sarah's.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Sarah turned to kiss his cheek.

"You were so cute with her," Chuck turned in to the kiss.

As they approached the amphitheater another cab, carrying Mandy & Molly arrived and both teams got the clue box at the same time.

"Roadblock," Chuck read, "Who has an inkling for anklung?" his brow furrowed in confusion.

Sarah stood still and listened, "there's music," she noted.

"I'll do it," Chuck grinned at her.

In a move that shocked no one, Mandy decided she was doing the road block too. Sarah rolled her eyes, but went with Molly into the stands to see what was going on. The theatre was somewhat crowded with locals, many of whom were small children playing some kind of instrument.

The challenge was to build the instrument, an anklung, out of the pieces supplied. They could have a couple of the kids with completed instruments join them so they could use the finished product as a model.

Chuck found a pair, seemingly a brother and sister, who were a little shy and in his usual way won them over with a goofy face and a big smile. They joined him near his work bench and he crouched down to their level to inspect the instrument.

The little boy was less shy than his sister and he reached out to touch Chuck's hair and giggled.

"I know, it is funny hair," Chuck laughed with the boy and soon the girl was laughing too.

Sarah watched with a look of delight on her face.

"He's good with kids too? Chuck might be too good to be true," Molly noted.

"He is comfortable with everyone, I don't know how he does it."

"Mandy looks like she would rather be handling snakes instead of children," Molly said as they looked over to her partner who was standing tall above the children with a look of disgust on her face.

"This challenge is right up Chuck's alley, he is really good at assembling things and he understands music," Sarah praised.

"He looks like he is having fun," Molly agreed as they watched Chuck who appeared to be dancing to the music the kids were making as he slid the bamboo pipes on to the frame he already had built.

Once he had the whole thing assembled, a judge appeared and listened as Chuck played the tune on the clue. The kids clapped, the instrument stayed together and Chuck was awarded the clue. He high fived the 2 kids who squealed in delight and then he jogged up to Sarah who rewarded him with a kiss that even Mandy could not miss.

"You are awesome," she said and followed it up with another kiss.

"Thanks," he pecked her lips one last time and then waved good-bye to Molly who was slumped in the stands watching Mandy throw a bit of a fit over the challenge.

"Next stop, the stars," Sarah read with confusion in her voice.

"There is an observatory here," Chuck said as they looked for a cab, "I saw it online earlier when I was checking out the RAMS."

A cab pulled up and Chuck said, "Bosscha Observatory" and the cab driver waved them in.

It was just getting dark, the sky the navy blue of a Van Goh painting, stars starting to interrupt the perfect blue.

"It's beautiful," Sarah said as she leaned in to Chuck's side and looked out his side of the cab.

"Everywhere you are is beautiful, Sarah."

"That was pretty suave there, Mr. Bartowski," she wrapped an arm around his middle and half hugged him.

"I love you," he kissed her temple and closed his eyes until the cab slowed to a stop.

Chuck paid the driver and grabbed their bags. There was only one entrance to the observatory and sure enough there was Jen inside the door.

"Congratulations, Chuck and Sarah, you are the first team to arrive. As the winners of this leg you have won a vacation for two to Cabo San Lucas, to enjoy after the race," Jen presented them an envelope with trip details.

"Wow, that is amazing," Sarah smiled.

"Yep, less manual labor and more cocktails," Jen grinned.

"We are at the Bosscha Observatory and we are actually sleeping here tonight, under the stars," Jen looked up and Chuck and Sarah followed suit, seeing the night sky right above them.

"Cool," Chuck squeezed Sarah's hand.

"There is food set up down the hall, help yourselves and feel free to look around. Grab a couple sleeping bags and set up your piece of the floor whenever you like, there is plenty of room for everyone."

"Sounds great," Sarah smiled and headed out for food.

Chuck diverted them to the sleeping area. He took 2 sleeping bags and unzipped them, shook them out and then zipped them together into one big sleeping bag. He found a spot right under the stars and laid them out, placing their bags at one end.

"Looks cozy," Sarah smirked.

"I have very specific cuddling needs and this set up will work perfectly."

"I will cuddle with you anywhere you want, sweetie."

Eventually the other teams all showed up, all of them except Mandy and Molly.

"She never got the anklung together," Lucy said with a frown, "I tried to help her, but we were the last two teams and we couldn't risk being last."

"They got there when we did, we were the first 2 teams there," Sarah mentioned.

"Yeah, she was struggling," Kevin sat next to Lucy and squeezed her shoulder.

"I won't miss Mandy much, but I liked Molly," Sarah said honestly.

"Well, Mandy did hit on Chuck like he was the only man left on the planet," Lucy snarked.

"So, it wasn't just me?" Sarah grinned.

"Oh no, aliens from Mars could tell she was hitting on Chuck," Kevin laughed.

TBC…


	12. Indonesia P2

Indonesia P2

The eight remaining World Challenge participants were exhausted, the long 24 hours of travel had done them in and after dinner everyone retreated to their sleeping bags. The room was large enough for them all to have a little space and as Chuck returned from the bathroom with his teeth brushed and his pajamas on, Sarah smiled.

"You look like you are at sleep away camp," she tugged a bit on his pajama pants.

"I never went to camp, but if they had it indoors at an observatory I totally would have," he grinned as he collapsed down cross-legged on the sleeping bag.

Sarah was already wearing a tee shirt and shorts, her face washed and her hair up on top of her head in a messy bun.

"You look gorgeous," he reached over and squeezed her thigh.

"Hardly," she scoffed.

Chuck wasn't going to fight with her, he knew she knew he meant it so he crawled into the sleeping bag and held the top up for her to join him. They laid side by side looking up at the stars, no words, just the sound of their breath.

Sarah had her hands folded on her stomach and she took one and reached over to the tiny space between their bodies, she extended her pinky so it traced along the edge of Chuck's hand and without taking his eyes off the stars he laced their fingers together.

It wasn't the first time Sarah had felt the indescribable pull she had towards this man next to her, it was something she discovered very early on in their time together, she was drawn to Chuck. She loved his words, the way he always found the most endearing thing to say and she had very quickly grown to love his passion, but here like this she knew that it was even more intrinsic, she belonged with Chuck.

As his eyes got heavy with sleep, Chuck turned towards Sarah and welcomed her into his arms. She enjoyed spooning into his long tall frame, but tonight she stayed facing him, her head in the crook of his neck, her heart beating against his.

***555***

The next morning was a flurry of activity, the teams were awoken at 7:00 am and there was a very light breakfast that made Sarah nervous.

"They have fed us very well every morning so far…." She mentioned as she sipped her coffee.

Chuck just looked at her funny.

"Food challenge, I can feel it coming," she shuddered.

"Maybe it will be as good as those donuts in Gdansk," Chuck hummed like Homer Simpson.

"I hope," she frowned.

They were given their clue when they turned in their sleeping bags. It was a logo. It had a snake on it. For the first time in the two and a half years he had known her, Chuck thought Sarah Walker looked scared.

They showed the logo to a cab driver who nodded, but not with the usual smile that accompanied recognition.

"You sure?" he asked in heavily-accented English.

Chuck nodded back and they climbed in the cab.

"Maybe it will be a snake charming class," Chuck offered, "you could charm anything, even a big 'ol snake."

Sarah smiled, but her mouth was pinched at the corners like she had to work really hard not to frown.

Sure enough the place in question was called the Snake Charmer House, it was written in English on the sign, but there was no class.

They were the 2nd team to arrive, Jake & Doug already there when their cab driver rushed past Chuck & Sarah's.

"Dig in!" Jake exclaimed as he greeted them from a seat at a short counter outside a small shed, the smell of grilled meat was obvious.

"Oh man," Sarah slowed her pace and wrapped her fingers around Chuck's wrist.

Sarah Walker had had to survive in rough circumstances before, she had eaten things most people wouldn't have thought possible, but she always tried to stick to flora, fauna and insects. The idea of chewing something fleshy that was not the standard well-butchered American cuisine turned her stomach.

"You can do it, they're dead," Doug sympathized.

"I'd rather wrangle a live one," Sarah admitted as she finally sat next to Doug with Chuck taking the stool on her other side.

A World Challenge rep appeared from behind the window and presented Doug and Jake with their portion of grilled snake. It was about 2 inches, maybe a couple of ounces.

"Can I eat both of ours?" Chuck asked.

Sarah was about to argue, but really if he could do it and it didn't bother him she was certain she could come up with a very suitable way to reward him the next time they were alone.

"Sorry, mate! Each traveler has to eat their own," Gavin produced two more plates with the grilled meat on them.

"It's OK," Sarah said stoically, "I can do it."

And she could of course, Sarah Walker was no wimp, but this was by far the worst thing she had to do so far on this mission. She looked at Chuck.

"I'll go first," he offered and stabbed the meat with a fork.

It was firm and pretty lean, he bit into it tentatively and found the smokiness of the grill kind of dominated the flavor of anything else.

"It's OK," he nodded and Sarah followed suit.

She debated taking huge bites and getting it over with quickly, but her first bite was cautious.

Jake & Doug devoured theirs without hesitation and were waving good-bye as Sarah swallowed the first bit.

"Alright?" Chuck asked between bites.

"I'm good," Sarah smiled and squeezed his thigh under the counter as she took another, larger bite.

The other 2 teams, Kevin & Lucy and Dan & Cassie showed up and all four of them seemed disgruntled at the idea of eating snake, but they all sat down. Chuck finished quickly and Sarah only had a little bit left to go.

Chuck leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Just imagine it is escargot ad we are in Paris," he started and the feel of his breath against her ear was so soothing.

"Or emu and we are down in Australia, let's say Sydney and I am taking you to the opera tonight. I'll wear a tux," he teased.

Sarah finished the snake with ease and turned her face to his, rubbed her nose against his.

"Thank you," she kissed his cheek and they got their clue and moved on.

"My badass woman rocked the snake eating!" Chuck declared, fist held high as they went back to get a cab.

The clue directed them to Kawah Domas crater which was in the middle of the woods, the driver took them to the edge of the area but couldn't go any further.

"Guess we are going on a hike?" Chuck grinned, the heat of the day already soaking the neck of his tee shirt.

Sarah took a moment to orient herself and take in the literal forest for the trees.

"Trail markers," she pointed off in the distance to World Challenge flags.

Chuck nodded and they set off, the forest floor snapping and cracking beneath their feet. It was humid and warm, but as a result the scent of the trees and flowers was amazing, the green of everything around them even more verdant.

"I probably don't want to know what is living out here with us, do I?" Chuck asked casually.

"Just don't look too hard, most of the critters here will try to blend in, so if you aren't looking for them you won't see them…and their many legs," she teased and laughed as he shrieked when she tickled his back with her fingers.

"Not cool, Miss Walker," he pouted.

"Sorry, baby, it was too easy."

"And after I was so loving and supportive about the snake eating."

"You were and I intend to repay you for that just as soon as we are alone," Sarah kept her hand on his back but with a much more intimate touch.

"I don't see anyone else around now," Chuck looked all around the dense forest.

"Except all those critters I really don't want to see me naked," she smirked.

"Right, yes…." Just as he said that something rustled in the leaves and a long dark snake slithered across the path in front of them, disappearing into the cover on the other side.

"Sorry about eating your brother earlier," Chuck called.

Sarah just laughed and shook her head. The hike was fairly short, maybe a mile by Sarah's calculation and they arrived at a clue box manned by a WC rep and a local who had an awful lot of eggs. Doug was hanging out which indicated it was a roadblock that Jake was doing.

"Who's feeling hard boiled?" Sarah read.

"I'll do it, you did the last one," Sarah offered.

"OK," Chuck smiled.

"OK, Sarah, you need to take this tray of 60 eggs on the back of one of these mopeds and follow the marked trail to the hot springs. Once you are there, you will find baskets like this," Gavin the rep showed her the example, "you need to hard boil one dozen eggs and get them back here for our expert to inspect. If they are not hardboiled you will have to try again. You only get the 60 eggs though."

"Got it," Sarah nodded.

She took a tray of eggs and secured it tightly to the moped, the first challenge was getting the eggs to the springs in one piece.

"I am so glad she is doing this," Chuck said to Doug.

"Not much of a cook?" he grinned.

"I can make like one thing, but I can craft the perfect bowl of cereal," Chuck said as he joined Doug on a felled tree that was being used as a bench.

Chuck wondered briefly if the Intersect 2.0 had any cooking tips, that could really come in handy…. but probably not for a spy.

Sarah started up the moped with a rumble and fastened on a helmet.

"Be careful, sweetie," Chuck called and Sarah gave him a thumbs up before heading down the trail.

"She's pretty good on that thing," Doug mentioned.

"She rides the stationary bike at the gym a lot," Chuck said lamely and Doug looked at him quizzically.

"She has really good balance," Chuck followed up, "a lot of core strength."

Chuck rolled his eyes internally and dropped the subject.

Sarah took the moped along the trail nice and easy, remembering her precious cargo in the back and shortly after she departed, Jake passed her going the other way. He waved but kept going. Sarah was certain they were the only team ahead of her so she continued her slow and steady pace.

The temperature at the hot springs was easily 20 degrees hotter than the already hot temp in the rest of the forest. Sarah tugged her tee shirt up and knotted it just below her breasts and removed her helmet. She thought for a second and loaded 15 eggs into the basket, that would give her 4 attempts of 15 in hopes 12 of the 15 was cooked through.

There was steam coming from the hot spring and the water bubbled like a pot, but Sarah really had no idea how quickly the eggs would cook. Again, she opted for patience and dropped the basket in before sitting back on the rock and waiting.

Sarah Walker was not particularly good at waiting, but she set the timer on her phone for 10 minutes, 10 minutes was long enough to cook eggs on a stove and this water had to be hotter than that, so she sat back and waited.

While she waited she thought about last night, lying under the stars with Chuck beside her, it was the perfect moment of solitude and connection. As amazing as every single moment alone and naked had been she felt even more naked under the vastness of the universe.

Being a spy was sometimes a very solipsistic endeavor, you were alone and worried primarily about yourself and the success of your mission and while she was definitely thinking about the mission she couldn't help but also think of how much her time with Chuck had opened her up to all sorts of possibilities.

How easy he was to talk to, to confide in. She loved how sincerely he listened when she said something and how he knew when to tease and when to be serious. She loved how the sex could be light and funny or hot and steamy or slow and intense. She loved how he trusted her and in turn she returned that trust implicitly – trust she had never fully gifted to another living soul. He was it for her. Forever.

Just as she was about to drift into images of long white dresses and flower bouquets she heard a moped approach. It was Jake, he was back.

"Only 10 of them were cooked through," he lamented, wiping sweat from his brow.

Sarah nodded and sat up a bit from her reclined position.

"Hot, right?" Jake tried not to stare at her bare stomach.

"So hot," she agreed as she looped her ponytail into a messy bun, even the ponytail too hot on her neck.

Jake arranged another basket of eggs and placed them at a safe distance from Sarah's.

"How long did you cook them the first time?" she asked casually.

"Five minutes," Jake said and Sarah couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not, he seemed like the type that would try to throw her off with a shorter time in hopes of convincing her to head back with uncooked eggs.

Sarah just nodded and made no move to remove her eggs before her phone timer went off. When it did she took the basket out and put it on the rock she had been sitting on. The eggs were way too hot to touch for a minute or two. When she could handle them, she angled her body so Jake couldn't see the rock and leaned over, hoping to distract him with her ass if she had to. Sarah spun the egg on the flattest part of the rock knowing that a hardboiled egg would spin without wobbling.

When a couple of eggs passed the spin test she loaded them back on the moped and waved to Jake as she pulled away. The ride back to the starting point was easier as Sarah had mapped the divots and tree roots on the way down, she pulled into the egg hut easily.

Chuck held his breath as the local took Sarah's eggs one by one and using a long big knife hacked them in half looking at the yolks. All 15 of the eggs she boiled were thoroughly cooked and Chuck & Sarah got a clue and were suddenly in first place.

"Nice job, Sarah," Chuck shouldered her pack when he saw how red and sweaty she was.

"Hot down there?" he frowned and used the hem of his tee shirt to wipe the sweat off her neck.

"Yeah," Sarah nodded with a smile at the tender gesture.

The WC rep, Gavin, had water for them and they each took a bottle for the hike back out to the road. Their clue directed them to a tea plantation on the other side of the town. There were cabs waiting for them and Chuck and Sarah got in the first one, which was blessedly cool with air conditioning.

"You alright?" Chuck asked more seriously when they were settled, Sarah was an alarming shade of red.

"Just a little over-heated, I'll be fine," she assured him.

Chuck conserved his water just in case Sarah needed a little extra and they relaxed as the cab took them to their next spot.

***555***

The tea plantation was beautiful, pristine landscaping around a huge sprawling plantation house with a bunch of matching out buildings around it. Right on the big wide veranda was a clue box.

"Detour: Paint Your Partner or Turn Over a New Leaf," Sarah read aloud, "In the first one we would have to do each other's make-up," she giggled, "in the style of a Japanese bride, ooh that is elaborate…. OR we dress up like tea farmers and roam the tea fields for a pair of specially marked clippers."

"I'm OK with wearing make-up if you want to get out of the heat," Chuck offered.

"I think that one will be much harder though," Sarah pondered for a second.

"We can start in the fields and if it is too hot we can switch?" Chuck suggested.

"Yeah," Sarah nodded, "I can't imagine what make-up would look like in this heat and humidity."

They walked around the back of the plantation house, following the arrows for 'Turn Over a New Leaf' and were stunned by the expanse of the tea fields.

"That is a lot of tea," Chuck said unnecessarily.

"Uh huh," Sarah said, a little nervous.

They were given long khaki pants and shirts, to protect them from the branches and the bugs and a hat with a net almost like a bee keeper. The fields were well kept and there were clear paths to walk and the clippers they were looking for had red handles and were rather large.

"It is beautiful here," Sarah said when a soft breeze kicked up making the oppressive heat a little less so.

"Peaceful," Chuck agreed as they listened to the birds singing and the rustle of the leaves.

They walked slowly and methodically up and down the paths for almost thirty minutes, Sarah was a little worried that they were taking too long, no one else had picked this challenge it seemed. She was loathe to go inside though, it was so gorgeous in the fields.

"I always wanted a garden when I was a kid," Sarah admitted.

"Really? You don't strike me as the gardening type," Chuck mused.

"I'm sure I wouldn't have wanted to do the work, but I love the idea of things growing from the dirt. Starting as seeds and getting the right combination of conditions, water and sun, to burst forth with shoots and stalks and leaves. I love carrots and beets and things that grow so perfectly and beautifully below the dirt," she kept talking as they walked, poking into the bushes looking for the prized clippers.

"I tried to avoid vegetables at all costs as a kid," Chuck laughed.

"As a kid?" Sarah arched an eyebrow.

"OK, but I am better about it now than I used to be. Ellie scared me in to spinach when she was in med school."

"I wanted to grow lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers…"

"You wanted to grow a salad," he laughed.

"Yep! And string beans because they climbed, you could set up a trellis and they would climb it."

As Sarah continued to talk about her dream garden, Chuck could picture it so clearly: Sarah in shorts and a tee shirt, a smudge of dirt on one cheek and her hands in thick gloves, a trowel in one hand as she knelt in the dirt. As quick as the image appeared it shifted and Sarah was not alone any more, there was a little blonde child next to her with a watering can as big as she was.

The image was so clear to Chuck, so beautiful it almost brought tears to his eyes. Could they have that someday? A normal life with kids and a garden.

"Oh, here!" Sarah pointed as she spotted the red handles of the clippers up ahead.

Chuck reached in to the bush and retrieved the clippers, they were heavier than he anticipated, but he hauled them up on to his shoulder, took Sarah's hand with his free hand and they followed the paths back to the building.

Chuck handed over the clippers in exchange for a clue envelope.

"The end of your day is close by, but be careful the last step is a doozie," Chuck read confused.

"You will go on foot, followed the marked path. You will know it when you see it," was all Javier said as he patted Chuck on the back.

Sarah had no idea if they were in first or last position at this point, there was no sign of the others in the house, but she didn't know where the make-up challenge was. They walked at a good clip, no other teams around and suddenly Sarah heard it.

"A waterfall," she said, stopping Chuck's progress and listening intently.

Sure enough the markers led them right to the edge of the earth. There was a sign:

"The fastest way to the finish is off the top of the falls, but if you prefer there is a walking path. If you opt to jump, leave your bags here and we will bring them to you," Chuck read the sign out loud.

Sarah assessed the situation quickly. She could see Jen waving to her from the shore just beyond the waterfall's pool. The pool was big and looked plenty deep, the jump not too high.

"You game?" she smiled broadly.

"Sure," he said less enthusiastically.

"We don't have to do this," she took his hand in hers, held his wrist and felt his pulse speed up a bit.

"No, I'm good," he smiled at her.

Sarah took off her boots and socks, strapping on her Tevas and packing her boots away. Chuck did the same, shucking his shirt as well.

"Do we do this together?" Chuck asked, he had never jumped off a waterfall before.

"Of course," she said, holding his hand again.

"I love you," he leaned in to kiss her.

"I love you too. One – two- three," and they jumped together.

They let go of each other on the way down but they hit the water almost at the same time, feet first.

The water was so cool and refreshing Sarah felt the whole hot, sweaty day fall away. She pulled the elastic out of her hair and let the water saturate it, fanning it out behind her. Chuck came up from the water shaking the water off his own hair, a huge smile on his face.

"That was awesome!" he swam the short distance to her side, pulled her close and kissed her again.

They then made their way to the edge of the little lagoon, pulling themselves easily up to the rock ledge where Jen was waiting.

"Bet that water feels good," Jen smiled.

Chuck and Sarah nodded in unison.

"Well, Chuck & Sarah…. you are…." Jen dragged it out, "the first team to arrive at the pit stop for this leg of the race."

"Really?" Sarah grinned.

"Really," Jen grinned back.

"It was a crazy hot day that started with eating snake, so I will take that first-place finish," Sarah said, genuinely proud of herself in a way she wasn't usually.

"We are camping here tonight, around the falls. As first place finishers, you will have a bit of a camping upgrade," Jen hinted.

"Excellent, I am more of an indoor person," Chuck admitted with a shy grin.

"Well it isn't quite indoors, but you'll see. Also, since you are here first you will have the most time to explore the falls. There are 8 different waterfalls in the area, linked by these amazing lagoons and pools. This water is some of the purest on the planet, you'll see springs all around, feel free to drink from them. You are welcome to swim and climb at your own risk. Your gear will be brought down and stored in your tent, we will eat at 7:00," Jen gave them the scoop.

"Sounds great," Chuck clapped his hands together and just as he and Sarah were about to plan their next stop they heard crazy yelling and turned in time to see Jake & Dug cannonballing off the waterfall.

Their collective splash hit Chuck, Sarah & Jen and they emerged sputtering and laughing.

"Quite an entrance fellas," Jen shook her head as she wiped the water off her face.

"Oooops," Jake looked mildly sheepish.

"Come on out, you are the 2nd team to finish and I'll fill you in on the rest of the evening.

Chuck and Sarah used that as an excuse to sneak away. Sarah found a wide rock ledge that went behind the falls and led Chuck there.

The roar of the water was deafening and the mist made it kind of hard to see, but it was lusciously cool and smelled like the minerals in the wet rock, it made Sarah's teeth ache it was so pure. It was too loud to talk and when she turned to look at Chuck he was already looking at her, he pulled her close, wrapped his arms around and kissed her so thoroughly.

He was shirtless from their jump, so her hands slid easily along his wet skin, her nails digging in just a little as she pulled him closer. She was crazy with desire, but conscious of the group of people not very far away. No matter how loud the water was they were still out in public, so she satisfied herself with a long deep delicious make-out session.

When they finally broke apart they were both a little winded, Chuck's wet hair kept flopping on to his forehead, not as long as it once had been it was still a little crazy. He reached up on brushed it back with a smile.

"This way," he said, although Sarah couldn't really hear him she just read his lips.

Chuck took her hand and led her out from under the waterfall, the rock ledge continuing in to the next area, which was shadier and with a less dramatic fall, they found a big flat rock and Sarah sank down to sit, Chuck joined her as he stretched his legs out. Sarah turned and reclined back, her head in his lap looking up at him.

"Good day?" he played with her wet hair.

"So good," she agreed.

"There is a tiny plot of dirt behind my apartment, by the grill, not very big, but Ellie always talked about putting in tomato plants," Chuck mentioned.

"Yeah?" she smiled up at him.

"Yeah," he smiled back.

***555***

Kevin and Lucy arrived shortly after Jake and Doug, so it turned out that the mystery team of Dan and his way-too-young wife Cassie were eliminated.

"You guys are the final three teams and have made it to the final leg of the race," Jen said.

"Your next city will be the final city, but it will be a grueling two legs there to determine the winner."

The three remaining teams had gathered for dinner near the falls, their tents were set up nearby and as promised, Chuck & Sarah had an upgrade.

"I can't believe we made it this far," Lucy said with a look of shock on her face.

"Me either," Kevin agreed, but squeezed her hand.

"You've all done amazing things, you should be proud of yourselves, you are special people to make it through this," Jen said sincerely.

Sarah wondered if this was the moment, was this the recruitment spiel, but Jen left them all to enjoy their dinner. When the food was gone, but the beer was still flowing, Jake, Doug, Kevin & Lucy told Chuck & Sarah about the make-up challenge.

"It was like something out of a horror movie, we all looked like victims of some sociopathic ritualistic serial killer," Doug painted quite a picture.

"It was bad," Lucy concurred.

"And it was so hot, just when you got something right it would start to sweat off," Jake added.

"Yeah, that was why we did the other one, I couldn't imagine keeping make-up on in this climate," Sarah had finished her beer so she reached over and helped herself to Chuck's, he surrendered it without question.

"We considered switching, but we would have wasted so much time getting the make-up off we just stuck with it," Kevin got up and got another beer for himself and Chuck.

"Thanks, man," Chuck smiled.

"Sarah didn't look like she was giving yours back," Kevin winked.

Sarah smiled innocently, her mind going back to that first dinner in Chile and how much she disliked Kevin & Lucy and now she thought of them as friends. Thinking back to that first night, three weeks ago, seemed like a lifetime ago. Her relationship with Chuck felt both refreshingly brand new and like it had always been.

Sarah slid closer to Chuck on the bench they were sitting on, curled and arm around his waist.

"I had never jumped off a waterfall before today," Chuck admitted.

"Us either," Lucy nodded.

"Awww, man, it is the best," Jake interjected.

"Yeah, you guys seemed like pros," Sarah giggled.

"Sorry if we splashed you, Sarah," Doug looked a little remorseful.

"No problem, I was already soaking wet," she grinned.

It got dark and the few bits of light were extinguished to keep from attracting bugs.

"Guess it is bed time," Chuck stretched.

"And you guys have a little hut thing," Jake pointed to the straw structure on a big flat rock near the falls.

Sarah instantly thought of the benefits of being on the rock island, fewer critters in their tent for one, the rush of the water would provide a bit of noise to cover any other noises that might be going on in the tent.

"It's like a little house," Chuck smiled as he looked at it.

"Let's go check out the bed," Sarah whispered in his ear.

Everyone said good night and went their separate ways, the tents for the other two teams scattered to give each team a little privacy.

Sarah scanned the tiny hut and fund no surveillance.

"Huh?" she looked at the butterfly.

Chuck came close and hugged her, whispering in her ear.

"Did we pass the test or fail it?"

"Not sure," she whispered back, "or maybe the surveillance is intermittent between teams."

"Either way we have a lovely little private hut, with a raised cot bed that should keep us safe from creatures of the night," Sarah looked at the mosquito netting with a smile.

Chuck shuddered at the thought.

"If you go around behind the hut there is a spring of clean water for washing up and enough cover for bathroom stuff," Sarah noted.

"This is honestly the first time I have camped outside since I was a child," Chuck seemed equal parts gleeful and nervous.

"Well, in that case we will have to make it a night to remember," Sarah attempted the Bartowski eyebrow dance.

"Hold that thought, I have to go pee in the woods, I'll be right back," he winked at her.

TBC…


End file.
